My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, and the noble Lord, Lord Bassam, for their amendments on the requirements regulation for the trailer registration system. Our intention is to set out in the regulations
the full scope of the registration scheme. Mandatory registration will apply solely to certain categories of trailers travelling internationally to or through 1968 Convention territories. This includes all current EU member states with the exception of Ireland, Spain, Malta and Cyprus. The distinction over limiting the application of the scheme to trailers travelling in 1968 Convention territories is important as it ensures that trailers used for any UK to Republic of Ireland journeys will not be subject to mandatory registration. The Government have been clear that we are committed to ensuring that no hard border is created on the island of Ireland, and the Bill will not create any additional requirements for trailers used solely for journeys between the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
The intended scope for the mandatory scheme, as mentioned by the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, and set out in the policy scoping document, is for commercial trailers over 750 kilograms and all trailers over 3.5 tonnes undertaking such journeys. The convention is not concerned with the registration status of trailers weighing below 750 kilogrammes, which is why we have used that bracket. I will explain our thinking on trailers weighing over 3.5 tonnes shortly.
The setting of all the details of scope in regulations is done in order to offer clarity to trailer users and allow the regulations to clearly cover all matters relating to registration. However, I sympathise with the noble Baroness’s point about having some certainty on that; that is why we have included them in the policy scoping documents and are consulting with the industry. The fact that they are not in the Bill will also allow us to consult further before setting the exact details. While we are clear that mandatory registration should apply to commercial trailers over 750 kilograms, further consideration is needed on whether larger, non-commercial leisure trailers should be covered by the regulations made under the Bill.
I am not sure how heavy my noble friend’s trailer is, but from our engagement with industry, we are confident that trailers over 3.5 tonnes are very limited in number—I fear that we have been unable to come up with exact numbers. However, in light of this, we are considering whether the registration scope should be mandatory for these trailers and we want to consult on this further with the sector before making a final decision. For that reason, and because we believe all of the details should be in one place in the regulations, we do not want to set these categories out in the Bill at this stage.
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The noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, suggests in Amendment 15 that provision must be made for voluntary registration of non-mandatory trailer categories. I can confirm that, with the exception of light trailers weighing below 750 kilograms, which are outside the scope of the 1968 Convention, voluntary registration will be available for all other categories of trailers, as allowed by powers set out in Clause 12(1). Amendments 15 and 16 propose requiring the scheme to have some form of mandatory domestic registration requirement. The amendment proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Bassam, would cover all trailers weighing below 3.5 tonnes used domestically or internationally. As the noble Lord said,
this is linked to his further amendment on safety. I am very sympathetic to that, but with his permission we will discuss it on the next group—I want to give it separate and full consideration.
The noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, has proposed that mandatory registration should be extended to require registration of all new commercial trailers weighing over 750 kilograms. Mandatory registration of solely domestic-use trailers was carefully considered within the impact assessments for both new and existing trailers. Further policy development and engagement with industry has underlined our decision not to include any domestic requirement for this scheme. As I outlined previously, this scheme is being implemented to allow trailer users to register to the standards outlined in the 1968 Vienna convention ahead of that convention coming into force. The development of the policy has been focused on delivering clarity for trailer users while keeping costs and additional admin requirements to a minimum.
The convention places no obligation on countries to require registration of domestic trailers; it allows for enforcement against unregistered trailers weighing more than 750 kilograms within their territories. We considered the application of that carefully with the industry. We do not have figures for the number of light trailers below 750 kilograms—these are not available—but we do have indicative figures for other categories of trailer. We believe there are at least 1.4 million trailers in the 750 kilograms to 3.5 tonne weight bracket that are solely used domestically. These would be brought into mandatory scope by these amendments. A third of these are non-commercial trailers, including caravans and horse trailers. The noble Baroness raised caravans. We are in contact with the organisation and we absolutely do not want to add any confusion: we are not suggesting that this scheme will replace its scheme, but if there is still concern we will follow that up and ensure we go through it in more detail. We think that the introduction of a broader scheme for domestic trailers, going beyond what the convention requires, would introduce a disproportionate burden and cost on both business and leisure trailer users—the 1.4 million trailers I mentioned, which is a significant number.
The noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, also proposes a requirement for guidance to be issued ahead of making regulations. Again, I sympathise with that aim—of course it is important that these regulations are as clear as possible for trailer users—and it may be helpful if I set out our approach. The registration scheme being created will provide clarity to UK trailer users on requirements for using trailers internationally. The registration service will be accompanied by appropriate guidance to users on the practical details of travelling internationally with a trailer. As I explained earlier, where you will need to register are those 1968 Convention countries: that is the majority of states, with those four exceptions. The reason we want to follow that, as I said, is the Northern Ireland exception.
The scope of the scheme and the duty to register will be communicated clearly and in good time for trailer users to make sure they are able to make the appropriate amendments. As I said, I understand the need for clear and early clarity for trailer users, but we
do not feel it is necessary to issue further guidance on the requirements on a country-by-country basis ahead of making the regulations.
I hope this discussion of the reasons for the proposed scope of the scheme has given sufficient clarity on how this decision has been reached and why we think an extension for domestic trailers would be disproportionate. I am sympathetic to the broad aims of the second amendment of the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson: we are committed to ensuring that the registration requirements are absolutely clear to users, but we do not feel it necessary to include this in the Bill.
I welcome the proposed amendments. I hope I have offered noble Lords the necessary clarifications and that the noble Baroness is able to withdraw her amendment.