Clause 5 - Giving of fixed penalty notices by vehicle examiners

Part of Road Safety Bill [Lords] – in a Public Bill Committee at 7:15 pm on 21 March 2006.

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Photo of Stephen Ladyman Stephen Ladyman Minister of State, Department for Transport 7:15, 21 March 2006

I disagree with the hon. Gentleman that examiners have no real competence. First, who is responsible for appointing VOSA vehicle examiners and ensuring that they are properly trained? Under legislation passed by the previous Government, they are appointed by the Secretary of State, so responsibility ultimately lies with the Secretary of State. VOSA, the agency that examiners work for, is an agency of the Department for Transport, so it reports to me. It is my job to make sure that standards are maintained. The examiners can already stop and inspect vehicles without the help of a police officer. If they feel that a court prosecution is necessary, they can submit evidence under PACE and proceed to prosecute. The one thing they cannot do at present is issue a penalty notice—a standing penalty. That is what we are trying to change.

All the measures in the Bill—I suspect that they will get wide support in the Committee—for dealing with foreign lorry drivers who have substandard vehicles or who commit road traffic offences depend on our ability to issue a penalty notice when the vehicle is detected as having committed an offence, and then to take a deposit from the driver equivalent to the potential fine that they might have to pay if found guilty. If we do not give VOSA officers the power to issue fixed penalties, that arrangement simply will not work, and the thousands of lorries that VOSA examiners already stop and examine will go unpunished. That would be a rather perverse consequence of a Conservative party amendment.