Road Safety Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 11:15 am on 1 February 2005.
Mr Kevin Hughes
Labour, Doncaster North
With this it will be convenient to discuss the following amendments:
No. 68, in Clause 30, page 39, line 13, leave out subsection (1).
No. 72, in clause 30, page 39, line 24, leave out 'that Act' and insert
'the Road Traffic Act 1988'.
John Thurso
Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, Shadow Spokesperson (Culture, Media and Sport), Shadow Spokesperson (Scotland), Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Transport), Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Culture, Media and Sport), Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (Scotland)
The three amendments, the first of which is to Clause 29 and the others of which are to clause 30, essentially address the same question. Why do the Government wish to change the fee arrangement, and what is their thinking behind that? Amendment No. 69 would, in subsection (1)(4)(a) of clause 29, which introduces the ability for the Secretary of State to charge a fee, take that out and removes the words
''pays such fee (if any) as is specified by the order''.
Amendment No. 68 would remove subsection (1) of clause 30, which would have the effect of returning the legislation to its current state so that
''any licence granted under this subsection shall be granted free of charge''.
Amendment No. 70 is consequential on that, in simply rewording subsection (1).
Under the current regime, having passed our test and paid the necessary fees, we are granted a licence, which the vast Majority of us get to keep until the age of 70. A photocard has now been deemed to be a better form of licence, but no change was made to the system of charging. Now there is the possibility that new forms of licence may be introduced at any time in the future, and in any form. We do not know what we might be providing for; the new licence could be a card with a photograph and a chip, and, with the way ID cards are going, might contain DNA and all sorts of other jolly things.
Different Ministers and Secretaries of State could decide on a regular basis that changes should be made to the system, and on each occasion a person around my age, who had happily passed a test some years ago, paid their money and got their licence, would have a new charge imposed on them that had not existed in the past. That may or may not be right, and I want to test the Government's thinking.
During the last short debate, on which I did not intervene, because I knew I had these amendments, the Minister said that we should have the user pays—
It being twenty-five minutes past Eleven o'clock, The Chairman adjourned the Committee without the Question being put, pursuant to the Standing Order.
Adjourned till this day at half-past Two o'clock. The Committee consisted of the following Members:
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.
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.
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.
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.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
