Road Safety Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 11:15 am on 1 February 2005.
Charlotte Atkins
Assistant Whip, Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport
11:15,
1 February 2005
I beg to move Amendment No. 70, in Clause 27, page 37, line 17, leave out subsection (6) and insert—
'(6) After subsection (13) insert—
''(13A) Before making an order under subsection (3) above the Secretary of State must consult with such representative organisations as he thinks fit.''.'.
This is a technical amendment that has arisen because, sadly, there has been a drafting mistake. The amendment provides for the wording in subsection (6) to be removed and replaced with a provision that requires the Secretary of State to consult such organisations as he thinks fit before making an order under section 36 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988.
Subsection (6) of the clause amends section 88 of the Act to require that regulations under section 36 are subject to consultation with the interested parties. However, the subsection is technically wrong, because section 88 relates to regulations made under part III of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988, whereas subsection (6) falls within part II of the Act. It is merely a technical amendment, which arose out of an error, and I ask the Committee to accept it.
Amendment agreed to.
Clause 27, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
