Road Safety Bill [HL]

I rise on this occasion to support the noble Lord, Lord Bradshaw. As your Lordships who served in the Armed Forces will be aware, young members of the Armed Forces under the age of 21 have for very many years been able to drive heavy goods vehicles, including buses, for obvious operational reasons. I do not think that that has proved particularly unsuccessful. Indeed, I do not think that the accident rate among those younger drivers is any greater than it is for those over the official age for a PCV—as it is known these days—of 21. When I got to my feet I should have declared an interest as an employee of the National Express Group, which has employed lots of bus drivers. As the noble Lord, Lord Bradshaw, said, there is a shortage of bus drivers. Noble Lords will not have heard it, but one of my colleagues on this side of the Committee muttered something about wages in the bus industry. Perhaps he and other noble Lords feel that wage levels have helped to cause the shortage, but it is not entirely that. The National Express Group is renowned for paying some of the highest wages in the bus industry but there is still a shortage, particularly in and around our major conurbations. It is not a particularly attractive job. The days when you could spend 10 minutes at the terminus at either end of the journey are long gone. Modern-day traffic conditions make it an extremely onerous job. I do not envy for a moment those who do it every day of their lives. Importing—if that is the right term—drivers from eastern Europe has been one method of combating that shortage and this proposal may well be another. I hope that the Minister will give serious consideration to the amendment. Like the noble Lord, Lord Bradshaw, I feel that we should return to the subject on Report if we cannot get a satisfactory answer at this stage.