Road Safety Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 6:30 pm on 1 February 2005.
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)
I wish to ask the Minister a simple question. He will be aware that Dounreay is in my Constituency and that nuclear material has been transported from Scrabster harbour to Dounreay, although it has mainly stopped now. What has brought about the need for the new powers? As I understand it, higher grade material is transported by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary, or heavily protected by it. Has something happened? Has the constabulary been consulted about the issue?
Mr David Jamieson
Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport
Again, the issue is small, but important. The sensitive matter of the transportation of radioactive material is highly regulated in this country, and rightly so. Devonport dockyard in my Constituency unloads some high-level nuclear material from submarines, and such issues are extremely important. People live within a few hundred yards from such activities.
The Clause will amend section 2 of the Radioactive Material (Road Transport) Act 1991 to enable regulations to be made that permit inspectors at the radioactive materials transport Division, the RMTD, to impose requirements for the provision of assistance and information when conducting an investigation. Currently, inspectors cannot insist that people operating the transport systems comply with requests for information. In most cases, the overwhelming Majority of them have done so, but it has been brought to our attention that, on two occasions in recent years, a company did not co-operate with the inspectors. In fact, one company even instructed its employees not to participate in the inquiries that were being made by the inspectors. Although such cases are rare, they are extremely serious. We want to close the loophole whereby companies cannot co-operate and, thus, inhibit inspectors doing their work properly and thoroughly. If they do not co-operate, they will face a considerable fine, which is why we have introduced such a measure.
Question accordingly agreed to.
Clause 43 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
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.
The House of Commons votes by dividing. Those voting Aye (yes) to any proposition walk through the division lobby to the right of the Speaker and those voting no through the lobby to the left. In each of the lobbies there are desks occupied by Clerks who tick Members' names off division lists as they pass through. Then at the exit doors the Members are counted by two Members acting as tellers. The Speaker calls for a vote by announcing "Clear the Lobbies". In the House of Lords "Clear the Bar" is called. Division Bells ring throughout the building and the police direct all Strangers to leave the vicinity of the Members’ Lobby. They also walk through the public rooms of the House shouting "division". MPs have eight minutes to get to the Division Lobby before the doors are closed. Members make their way to the Chamber, where Whips are on hand to remind the uncertain which way, if any, their party is voting. Meanwhile the Clerks who will take the names of those voting have taken their place at the high tables with the alphabetical lists of MPs' names on which ticks are made to record the vote. When the tellers are ready the counting process begins - the recording of names by the Clerk and the counting of heads by the tellers. When both lobbies have been counted and the figures entered on a card this is given to the Speaker who reads the figures and announces "So the Ayes [or Noes] have it". In the House of Lords the process is the same except that the Lobbies are called the Contents Lobby and the Not Contents Lobby. Unlike many other legislatures, the House of Commons and the House of Lords have not adopted a mechanical or electronic means of voting. This was considered in 1998 but rejected. Divisions rarely take less than ten minutes and those where most Members are voting usually take about fifteen. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P9 at the UK Parliament site.
