UK Parliament / Open data

Local Transport Bill [HL] Bill

Debate on bills and Committee proceeding on Thursday, 6 December 2007, in the House of Lords.

About these Parliamentary proceedings

Reference

696 c35-92GC 

Session

2007-08

Legislative stage

Committee stage

Procedure

New clauses

Chamber / Committee

House of Lords Grand Committee
Local Transport Bill (HL). (Explanatory Notes HL Bill 1-EN published).
Wednesday, 7 November 2007
Bills
House of Lords

Proceeding contributions

Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c87GC (Link to this contribution) I would expect an intelligent and sensitive operator to work to resolve the problem rather than to b...
Lord Rosser | 696 c72-3GC (Link to this contribution) I have listened with interest to my noble friend and, on the basis of what he said—which was an extr...

Show all contributions (130)
Lord Rosser | 696 c76GC (Link to this contribution) In the light of that, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c76GC (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my noble friend for raising this issue. I assure him that there is no problem legis...
Earl Attlee | 696 c48GC (Link to this contribution) The noble Lord, Lord Borrie, should not be surprised that I moved this amendment, because we will ex...
Lord Berkeley | 696 c54GC (Link to this contribution) That is extremely serious. The noble Baroness, Lady Scott of Needham Market, has done the Committee ...
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c56-7GC (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Hanningfield, for his explanation and to the noble Lord, Lord ...
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c88-9GC (Link to this contribution) The second question is easier to answer than the first. We do not believe that the fact that there h...
Earl Attlee | 696 c66-7GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 12: 12: Clause 12, page 13, line 22, at end insert— ““( ) Restrictions can inc...
Earl Attlee | 696 c69GC (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the Minister’s careful and detailed reply. He mentioned seasonal changes. They are...
Lord Snape | 696 c74-5GC (Link to this contribution) Before he does so—if he is about to do so—I have a specific question. It is regrettable when words ...
Earl Attlee | 696 c70GC (Link to this contribution) I have Amendment No. 19 in this group. The Bill seeks to amend the Transport Act 2000 to allow frequ...
Earl Attlee | 696 c73GC (Link to this contribution) I am neutral on the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Rosser, but I hope that the Minister does not ...
Baroness Crawley | 696 c73-4GC (Link to this contribution) No, I shall not forget that. I thank noble Lords for their very important and lively contributions. ...
Lord Low of Dalston | 696 c76-8GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 16: 16: Clause 12, page 14, leave out lines 9 to 13 The noble Lord said: This...
Lord Tordoff | 696 c78GC (Link to this contribution) It may be appropriate for me to draw attention to the fact that were Amendment No. 18 to be agreed, ...
Lord Rosser | 696 c78-80GC (Link to this contribution) I support the amendment. Do the lines that the amendment seeks to leave out represent a change from ...
Lord Hanningfield | 696 c40GC (Link to this contribution) I totally agree that there should be strategic oversight, but I do not know whether that should nece...
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c41GC (Link to this contribution) Of course the traffic commissioners will have a local input. They will also have a regional input. P...
Baroness Scott of Needham Market | 696 c41GC (Link to this contribution) Does the Minister accept that there are occasions, and this may be one of them, where it would proba...
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c41GC (Link to this contribution) Scottish and Welsh Ministers might feel a little aggrieved if no reference was made to them. The bea...
Lord Rosser | 696 c42GC (Link to this contribution) Well, then, are you going to accept it?
Lord Hanningfield | 696 c42-3GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 5: 5: Clause 3, page 5, leave out lines 35 to 39 The noble Lord said: Subsect...
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c42GC (Link to this contribution) In that situation, having taken into account that he is the senior traffic commissioner, he would ob...
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c42GC (Link to this contribution) The commissioner will have a specific area, but he will also have an oversight role. For that purpos...
Lord Berkeley | 696 c43GC (Link to this contribution) I managed to get hold of various documents from the Printed Paper Office this morning, including the...
Lord Hanningfield | 696 c44GC (Link to this contribution) I would like to explore that a little further. In my experience—I am sure in the Minister’s experien...
Earl Attlee | 696 c46-7GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 5B: 5B: Clause 4, page 6, line 20, after ““which”” insert ““both the senior tr...
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c44GC (Link to this contribution) It is not that the Government require great interference; that is not the purpose of our approach. T...
Lord Hanningfield | 696 c45GC (Link to this contribution) The Minister did not answer my question about budgets, but we may explore that further as this all h...
Lord Berkeley | 696 c45GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 5A: 5A: Clause 3, page 5, line 37, at end insert— ““(7) The Secretary of State...
Lord Berkeley | 696 c49-50GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 7A: 7A: Clause 8, page 10, line 24, at end insert— ““(c) to have regard to rel...
Lord Hanningfield | 696 c49GC (Link to this contribution) What I was trying to get from the Minister was why it was, to a certain extent, mentioned almost twi...
Lord Hanningfield | 696 c54GC (Link to this contribution) I support all that has been said on level crossings. However, we have moved away from the original g...
Baroness Crawley | 696 c54GC (Link to this contribution) Given the amount of consultation and scrutiny that the Bill has undergone, I hope that it is not inc...
Lord Berkeley | 696 c52GC (Link to this contribution) Is Network Rail included in the consultation?
Lord Hanningfield | 696 c58-9GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 11: 11: Clause 9, page 11, line 34, at end insert— ““(2C) In preparing their l...
Baroness Scott of Needham Market | 696 c57GC (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the noble Lord. I am not sure that he will be able to give an answer now but I shou...
Lord Hanningfield | 696 c55-6GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 8: 8: Clause 9, page 11, line 4, at end insert ““having regard to changing tra...
Lord Snape | 696 c61GC (Link to this contribution) That rather confirmed our prejudices, if the noble Baroness will forgive me for saying so. These are...
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c59-60GC (Link to this contribution) Clauses 12 to 17 contain provisions for quality partnership schemes for bus services. There is alrea...
Baroness Scott of Needham Market | 696 c89GC (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister. If he had just replied to the original question from the noble Lord, ...
Lord Snape | 696 c88GC (Link to this contribution) Before my noble friend replies to that specific point, perhaps I can help him out. Subsequent to the...
Lord Low of Dalston | 696 c90GC (Link to this contribution) That is probably about as far as one can take that point this afternoon. With those observations and...
Baroness Crawley | 696 c91-2GC (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree with the noble Lord, Lord Hanningfield, that neighbouring authorities should be con...
Lord Hanningfield | 696 c35-6GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 1: 1: Clause 2, page 2, line 12, after ““appropriate”” insert ““following cons...
Earl of Mar and Kellie | 696 c37GC (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for his reply that he sent to all of us, not only to me in particular....
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c37-40GC (Link to this contribution) I welcome everyone to this all-embracing Committee with a whole range of interests. It seems to stre...
Lord Berkeley | 696 c88GC (Link to this contribution) Before my noble friend sits down, I will try once more. If the situation is, as the noble Baroness a...
Baroness Scott of Needham Market | 696 c87GC (Link to this contribution) I recall that when I was managing the transport portfolio in Suffolk, the bus operators would not me...
Baroness Scott of Needham Market | 696 c80GC (Link to this contribution) I do not wish to get involved in the emerging division between local authority and PTE-type people o...
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c82-7GC (Link to this contribution) We have had a fairly wide-ranging discussion around this group of amendments. That is no great surpr...
Baroness Crawley | 696 c62-3GC (Link to this contribution) As part of the consultation process which was conducted between July and October 2007 and entitled, ...
Lord Berkeley | 696 c66GC (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful for the responses of both my noble friends. This is clearly a probing amendment a...
Baroness Crawley | 696 c75GC (Link to this contribution) I was asked a specific question by my noble friend Lord Snape about the funding of GoSkills. I confi...
Lord Rosser | 696 c75GC (Link to this contribution) I do not particularly wish to prolong proceedings with a lengthy response to my noble friend. I have...
Lord Rosser | 696 c75-6GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 15: 15: Clause 12, page 14, line 7, after ““descriptions,”” insert ““or for ti...
Lord Berkeley | 696 c40GC (Link to this contribution) Before my noble friend leaves that subject, if there is a proposal to merge Passenger Focus for rail...
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c40GC (Link to this contribution) I was about to offer the commitment, picking up on the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Hanningfi...
Lord Hanningfield | 696 c40-1GC (Link to this contribution) As the noble Lord will know, we have an Eastern region now and many things are now done by it. For E...
Lord Hanningfield | 696 c42GC (Link to this contribution) I think that the Minister has accepted one amendment in this group but I still hope that he will ref...
Lord Berkeley | 696 c42GC (Link to this contribution) On that subject, can my noble friend have a look at subsection (5), half way down page 4 of the Bill...
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c42GC (Link to this contribution) I was about to say to the noble Lord that we are prepared to look at it further and, I hope, come ba...
Lord Berkeley | 696 c46GC (Link to this contribution) Perhaps while my noble friend is considering her answer I could help her a little. On the question o...
Baroness Crawley | 696 c45-6GC (Link to this contribution) My noble friend’s amendment concerns the scope of the guidance, but the Government feel that it veer...
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c49GC (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the noble Lord for explaining his amendment, which is presented with a strongly loc...
Lord Hanningfield | 696 c48-9GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 7: 7: Clause 8, page 10, leave out lines 22 to 24 The noble Lord said: I prop...
Baroness Crawley | 696 c47-8GC (Link to this contribution) I thank both noble Lords who have taken part in this short debate. My noble friend Lord Borrie is ri...
Earl Attlee | 696 c53GC (Link to this contribution) She was looking down the track. The noble Lord should imagine how she would have felt if she saw a t...
Baroness Crawley | 696 c52-3GC (Link to this contribution) Yes, and Network Rail. The Government agree that consultation on local transport plans with interes...
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c58GC (Link to this contribution) It may be useful if I set out our thoughts at greater length in correspondence—perhaps by a compendi...
Baroness Crawley | 696 c62GC (Link to this contribution) I thank the noble Baroness and my noble friend for their contributions. The noble Lord, Lord Snape, ...
Lord Berkeley | 696 c59GC (Link to this contribution) I apologise to the committee. Amendment No. 11A is a mistake. It is a duplication. I support the a...
Lord Low of Dalston | 696 c90GC (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that. If I can assist at all in discussions with the Minister between now and Repo...
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c90GC (Link to this contribution) Of course I shall reflect on that point, because one should. I am not certain whether we need to add...
Lord Hanningfield | 696 c92GC (Link to this contribution) I thank the noble Baroness for her answer. She certainly sympathised with my view that these people ...
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c90GC (Link to this contribution) I hesitate to interrupt the noble Lord’s calm response, but I cannot give that undertaking. It would...
Lord Berkeley | 696 c37GC (Link to this contribution) I hope it would be convenient for the Committee for me to speak to my Amendment No. 1A with this gro...
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c87GC (Link to this contribution) I understand the issue the noble Baroness raises. In my locality we do not have a benign monopoly, b...
Lord Berkeley | 696 c81GC (Link to this contribution) I apologise for being slightly late for this group. I shall speak briefly to Amendment No. 16A, whic...
Earl Attlee | 696 c81GC (Link to this contribution) I have Amendment No. 19 in this group. I am grateful to other Members of the Committee who managed t...
Lord Snape | 696 c87GC (Link to this contribution) Could my noble friend reassure the Committee that if two operators sat down, perhaps under the auspi...
Lord Snape | 696 c82GC (Link to this contribution) I, too, apologise to noble Lords for missing parts of this debate. I shall be extremely brief in wha...
Lord Berkeley | 696 c63-4GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 11B: 11B: Before Clause 12, insert the following new Clause— ““Tendered Networ...
Lord Snape | 696 c64-5GC (Link to this contribution) I do not often disagree with my noble friend Lord Berkeley on these matters, but I fear that I must ...
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c65-6GC (Link to this contribution) My noble friend Lord Snape and I are at one on this issue. I certainly recognise the novelty of the ...
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c67-9GC (Link to this contribution) The noble Earl has set out an interesting proposal. I certainly agree that there is often merit in e...
Lord Rosser | 696 c69-70GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 13: 13: Clause 12, page 14, line 1, at end insert ““and (c) requirements as to...
Lord Snape | 696 c71GC (Link to this contribution) I have listened carefully to what my noble friend Lord Rosser said. Two questions immediately come t...
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c70GC (Link to this contribution) Amendment No. 19 is grouped with Amendments Nos. 16, 16A, 18, 20 and 21.
Lord Snape | 696 c72GC (Link to this contribution) I think the noble Earl’s remarks were addressed to me as a former railwayman. I do not want to pre-e...
Earl of Mar and Kellie | 696 c71-2GC (Link to this contribution) The point I pick up from the noble Lord, Lord Snape, is that many bus companies do this at present b...
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c40GC (Link to this contribution) The noble Lord never asks for too much. I think it is best left to guidance. We are talking about se...
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c42GC (Link to this contribution) The short answer is that we do not see too much to object to in the noble Lord’s amendment.
Lord Rosser | 696 c41GC (Link to this contribution) The Minister said that new subsection (4)(e) states, "““as the senior traffic commissioner thinks fi...
Earl of Mar and Kellie | 696 c43GC (Link to this contribution) Were my noble friend Lord Bradshaw here, I am certain that he would extol to the Grand Committee the...
Earl of Mar and Kellie | 696 c42GC (Link to this contribution) If I pretended that this was a wildly controversial Bill in Scotland, that would be knocked on the h...
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c43-4GC (Link to this contribution) As has been explained, the amendment would remove the Secretary of State’s power to give guidance to...
Baroness Crawley | 696 c46GC (Link to this contribution) I should think that if that problem became a serious issue it would become part of a disciplinary ro...
Lord Berkeley | 696 c46GC (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to my noble friend for the way in which she has answered the questions under this...
Baroness Crawley | 696 c51-2GC (Link to this contribution) I shall deal with the noble Baroness’s point first. We were intending to discuss a number of safety ...
Baroness Scott of Needham Market | 696 c51GC (Link to this contribution) I support any moves that would seek to improve the relationship between highways planning authoritie...
Lord Hanningfield | 696 c50-1GC (Link to this contribution) I speak to Amendments Nos. 9 and 10, which complement Amendment No. 7A. An authority's consultation ...
Lord Borrie | 696 c47GC (Link to this contribution) I feel a certain surprise at this amendment. As was elicited by noble Lords from Ministers this afte...
Lord Berkeley | 696 c53GC (Link to this contribution) The partner of the noble Earl, Lord Attlee, could at least have drawn comfort from the fact that the...
Earl of Mar and Kellie | 696 c54GC (Link to this contribution) If the public knew that we were discussing a Local Transport Bill which did not deal with the most d...
Baroness Crawley | 696 c53GC (Link to this contribution) I shall certainly assist as much as I can in answering the noble Earl’s query.
Earl Attlee | 696 c53GC (Link to this contribution) I listened with interest to what the Minister said about safety at level crossings. Will she write t...
Lord Hanningfield | 696 c58GC (Link to this contribution) That was very interesting but I hope that the Minister can help us further. I have some of the clari...
Lord Hanningfield | 696 c57-8GC (Link to this contribution) I should like to reinforce that point. I should have raised it because it is important, and I am ver...
Lord Hanningfield | 696 c56GC (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the noble Lord should have some experience of opposition. When one is in opposition, even if...
Lord Borrie | 696 c56GC (Link to this contribution) On this matter, as on earlier ones, Her Majesty’s Opposition have very properly probed the Governmen...
Lord Berkeley | 696 c55GC (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Hanningfield, for his comments. I shall read the Minister...
Baroness Crawley | 696 c62GC (Link to this contribution) Perhaps I may get back to the noble Baroness on that. I understand that one can change a boundary to...
Baroness Scott of Needham Market | 696 c62GC (Link to this contribution) Clause 68, which relates to reviews and creating new integrated transport areas, states that the rev...
Baroness Scott of Needham Market | 696 c60GC (Link to this contribution) I gave notice of my objection to Clause 9 standing part of the Bill as a way of reflecting further o...
Lord Hanningfield | 696 c60GC (Link to this contribution) I am rather disappointed that the Minister was so negative about this amendment. If it created a pre...
Lord Snape | 696 c60-1GC (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the noble Baroness for raising this point. The question of local government boundar...
Lord Rosser | 696 c88GC (Link to this contribution) I understand from what my noble friend said about admissible objections that an operator can raise t...
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c89GC (Link to this contribution) I do not think that at all. The noble Lord’s contribution was very useful and helpful, and I extend ...
Lord Low of Dalston | 696 c89GC (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for that. I was a bit worried that other noble Lords who obviously know a great...
Lord Bassam of Brighton | 696 c89GC (Link to this contribution) I like to think that I have shed a bit more light on the subject. I apologise for taking my time on ...
Lord Low of Dalston | 696 c89GC (Link to this contribution) The Minister has asked that I withdraw the amendment and I am prepared to do so. This has been a wid...
Lord Hanningfield | 696 c90-1GC (Link to this contribution) moved Amendment No. 17: 17: Clause 12, page 14, line 24, at end insert— ““(3) In subsection (3)(c)...
Baroness Crawley | 696 c92GC (Link to this contribution) This may be a convenient moment for the Committee to adjourn until next Wednesday at 3.45 pm.
Viscount Simon | 696 c92GC (Link to this contribution) The Committee stands adjourned until Wednesday 12 December at 3.45 pm.
Lord Rosser | 696 c36-7GC (Link to this contribution) My Amendment No. 4 is in this group. It would ensure that when the senior traffic commissioner is co...
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