Road Safety Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 11:15 am on 1 February 2005.
Greg Knight
Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I want to ask a Constituency question, which I hope the Minister will answer on this Clause or the next one. A constituent who is going overseas has a licence that is valid but registered to him at his old address. He has just moved house. He has asked me whether he should send his licence off now or wait until he comes back from holiday.
Can the Minister tell us, for the record, what the average turnaround time is for someone submitting a licence merely to register a change of address? In other words, how long will my constituent be without his licence if he posts it off to register the new address? Will it be a couple of weeks or longer?
Christopher Chope
Conservative, Christchurch
Paragraph 88 of the notes on clauses says:
''The power to impose conditions on licences would be used, for example, in relation to a driver who had previously been disqualified from driving for a drink driving offence, but had agreed to a court order allowing him to participate in an alcohol ignition interlock programme (as provided for by Clause 14). The condition would require the driver to drive only in accordance with the alcohol ignition interlock programme.''
That is an example, but the clause seems to grant much wider powers. Unless I am corrected by the Minister, I believe that one of those powers would be to force learner drivers off the road if they had not passed their test by a specified time. We have introduced similar powers in relation to motor cyclists. Can she confirm that the power in the clause could be used to force a person with L-plates to take a test, for which they could have their driving licence removed if they failed?
Charlotte Atkins
Assistant Whip, Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport
I do not believe that is the case. A learner driver who had passed their test would certainly have to apply for their full licence within a two-year period, but there is no provision or intention that we should require a learner driver to pass their test within two years. The issue is that the driver must apply for the full licence once they have passed their test.
I am informed that the turnaround time for the new licence is 10 to 15 days. I am sure that the constituent of the right hon. Member for East Yorkshire will make a decision based on his period of time away. Presumably, if he is changing address, he will not be required to pay a fee for his new licence.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 28 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.
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.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent
