Part of Road Safety Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 4:30 pm on 1 February 2005.
Greg Knight
Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
4:30,
1 February 2005
Will the Minister confirm that nothing in this Clause will be retrospective? For example, many plates on motor vehicles do not have the typeface that the Department now prefers, yet the typeface was perfectly legal at the time the plates were produced. Many plates do not state who the supplier was, and some people have preferred to have running along the bottom of the plate their own name or the make and model of their vehicle, for example. Will the Minister confirm that he is not about to start making owners affix to their vehicles new plates if they are not seeking to replace their plate but wish to continue with their existing one, which complied with the law at the time it was issued?
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.
