City of Westminster Bill [HL]

My Lords, the main purpose of this Private Bill is to deal with the regulation of street trading in the City of Westminster. Westminster is in a unique position among local authorities in this country, given its status as an international and national tourism, shopping and business centre. As a result, the streets of the city are thronged with shoppers; I do not need to tell your Lordships that certain parts of the West End, including Oxford Street, Regent Street, Soho and Covent Garden, have some of the highest pedestrian footfalls in the country. Because of that, the streets of the city are a very attractive place for street traders to be. That in turn presents the city council with a range of issues that other local authorities may not have. That is why in the 1990s the city council promoted its own Private Bill to deal with street trading. That Bill became the City of Westminster Act 1999. The Act has generally worked well, but a number of deficiencies have been highlighted over the course of the past 10 years. The council believes that a case for revising the Act has been made. Therefore, last year the council chose to promote this Bill which, if enacted, would repeal the 1999 Act and re-enact it with some important changes. Street trading in Westminster has of course been going on for hundreds of years. The city council recognises that it can add to the vibrancy and colour of the street scene and can provide a convenient shopping alternative, but it needs to be controlled. Under the existing legislation and the Bill, the council is entitled to designate areas where licensed street trading can take place. Street trading outside such areas is an offence. A licence is needed to trade in designated areas. The council is able to control the trading by the imposition of conditions, and it is able to specify what type of goods can be sold at any street trading pitch. There are a number of reasons for the need to control street trading; and at the foremost of the council’s mind will be the safety and convenience of pedestrians. The council has, thanks to the 1999 Act and earlier London Acts, had a good deal of success in controlling unlicensed street trading that was becoming a major problem in Westminster. In the late 1980s and the 1990s, the council reached the view that the relatively small fines the magistrates were handing out for unlicensed street trading were becoming nothing more than an inconvenient business expense for illegal street traders; that is if they could be identified and prosecuted at all. Therefore, one of the additional strings that the council added to its bow was the power to seize items used for illegal street trading. This power has been key to reducing particularly the amount of trading by mobile hot-dog vendors in the West End. An illustration of how effective Westminster is at street trading enforcement can be seen a stone’s throw from this place. The boundary between Westminster and Lambeth runs across the centre of Westminster Bridge. If one crosses the bridge, one will often find unlawful street traders trading tatty tourist merchandise right up to the boundary of the Lambeth side, safe in the knowledge that the Westminster’s enforcement officers cannot touch them. A number of your Lordships have commented to me on how difficult it is to even to walk across Westminster Bridge. After you hit the halfway mark, with all the tourists and other people, and this proliferation of street traders, it is a real problem. The Bill alters—the council would say improves—the 1999 Act in a number of ways, of which these are examples. It provides more flexibility to the council in terms of how it designates licensable areas within which street trading can be licensed; it gives the council more flexibility in varying existing street trading licences; it provides the councils with more discretion in deciding whether to allow an application for a licence; and it broadens the range of conditions that can be imposed on a licence; it sets out new general grounds on which the council can refuse to grant a street trading licence, including the safety or convenience of people using the street, the prevention of crime or disorder, the amenity of the area, and the suitability of the applicant. I stop to focus on amenity for a second, as this is a novel ingredient in street trading legislation. Under the Bill, not only would it be a factor for the council to consider when dealing with an application for a licence, but also when deciding whether to designate an area as a place in which licences should be capable of being granted at all. A significant proportion of the city falls within statutorily designated conservation areas. There are also significant numbers of listed buildings in the city. In turn, it follows that planning controls over development, particularly new buildings, are generally more stringent than in other areas. This is not currently reflected in the control of street trading. While the council does have some control over the appearance of stores and the goods on display, the control is limited and no specific reference is made in the existing legislation to amenity. Those at the council responsible for planning are particularly keen to ensure that street trading does not take place in areas where it would have a deleterious effect on the setting of valuable streetscapes. Having emphasised the amenity aspect, I stress that other factors are also of great importance in deciding whether to designate a place as a licensable area, or grant a licence—perhaps none more so than the safety and convenience of other highway users. The Bill makes new and special provision about markets in the city. There are no charter markets in the city, although there are a few street markets, consisting of a conglomeration of a number of traders holding individual street-trading licences. The council is keen to ensure the preservation and vitality of the markets in the city. The Bill is intended to achieve this by giving the councils greater controls, particularly over the location of traders within a particular market area. New powers to suspend licences immediately would be introduced in cases where the licence holder has used dangerous, abusive or violent behaviour. Limited new powers are given to enable licensed street trading to be carried out by a company rather than an individual. By the same token, the Bill also limits the existing right of a licence holder to nominate a family member or successor to succeed him or her as a holder of the licence. This right of succession, which currently applies only to street traders in London, will be allowed for one more generation in Westminster. I have already mentioned seizure and hot-dog trolleys. The Bill would enhance the council’s powers in relation to seizure of hot-dog trolleys and other food receptacles, enabling it to dispose of them more efficiently. The council seizes enormous numbers of these trolleys in the West End under its existing powers. The people from whom they are seized rarely, if ever, claim them back. That means that the council wastes a great deal of money storing them unnecessarily and obtaining a court order before disposing of them. The Bill would allow disposal in cases where the item is seized and notice given to the person in charge, informing him of his right to require the council to obtain a disposal order, and that right is not exercised. The council’s experience is that offenders are reluctant to identify themselves, because they know that they will be successfully prosecuted, so it is likely that notices will not be returned and the trolleys can be disposed of more readily, saving the council tax payers of the city considerable amounts of money. It must be stressed that, with all the new powers, there are checks and balances in the Bill. The schedules to the Bill set out in detail the processes, including consultation, and the ability for those affected to make representations that the council must go through when making decisions that are likely to affect street traders. The Bill contains provision for appeals against decisions of the council, including decisions to refuse to grant a licence or to revoke a licence. The Bill would ensure that trading could continue in appropriate cases until appeals are disposed of. There are provisions to enable compensation to be paid in cases where items are seized unlawfully by the council. Although the Bill has engendered opposition from a representative street traders’ organisation, which I will come to in a minute, I stress that there is plenty in the Bill to ensure the protection of existing street traders and their licences. Before moving on to the petitions, I should mention the one clause that is not concerned with street trading; namely, Clause 52, which deals with touting. Similar provisions exist in private legislation elsewhere in the country, to prohibit touting for certain types of leisure-related businesses on the street. In some ways, it is rather odd that the council does not have similar powers, given the huge number of attractions, particularly in the West End. I stress that the clause does not deal with ticket touting. In fact, the sale of tickets in the street is actually street trading, and is regulated by the other clauses in the Bill. I now turn to the three petitions that have been deposited against the Bill. As a general point, if your Lordships give it a Second Reading today, it will of course be for the Select Committee to which the Bill is referred to investigate the cases of the petitioners and the council with the customary fine-toothed comb, but it behoves me to say a few words about each petition. First, a petition has been lodged by a number of individuals who hold pedlars’ certificates. Under the 1999 Act, holders of pedlars’ certificates are exempt from the street-trading licensing regime if they are carrying out their trading by means of house-to-house visits. The Bill does not change this position, and for that reason the council is challenging the locus standi of the petitioners. Perhaps at this point it would be appropriate to raise the issue of human rights. The Minister for Trade, Investment and Consumer Affairs, Gareth Thomas, has, in accordance with the Standing Orders of this House, reported on compatibility with the European Convention on Human Rights. He says that, save in respect of the restriction on pedlars, he believes that the promoters have undertaken a full assessment of the compatibility of the Bill’s proposals with the convention, and he sees no need to dispute their conclusions. He says that he has not seen the evidence that the promoters rely on to justify restrictions as being in the general interest. I have no doubt that the promoters will produce that evidence in Committee. The second petition is from Associated Newspapers, the publishers of the Evening Standard. They have detailed concerns about the news vendor provisions, which are altered under the Bill. Under the 1999 Act, news vendors have an exemption from the street trading regime if certain conditions are met. The Bill alters some of those conditions, particularly as regards the type of booth which can be used, and also gives the council power to designate areas—for example, where inconvenience or danger may be caused to other road users—where the exemption should not apply. London Transport is concerned that people entering major Underground stations may be hampered by the presence of an unsuitably sized or positioned paper-seller’s booth. The council will meet with the petitioners soon to discuss their concerns further and I hope that an amicable solution will be achieved. Finally, the National Market Traders Federation has petitioned. Obviously, the council takes this petition seriously as the federation represents a good number of the existing licensed street traders in the city. The promoters met the federation on more than one occasion in the lead-up to the Bill, consulted it and, having heard its concerns, made changes to the draft Bill before it was deposited. Clearly, there is not yet a meeting of minds because the federation’s petition extends to 86 paragraphs, all of which are being carefully studied by the council. Over the coming weeks in the lead-up to the Select Committee hearing, there will be no doubt be discussions between the parties in an attempt to reach an amicable solution. The council would, ideally, want to have the support of the traders for its proposals, if at all possible. The council does not wish to leave your Lordships with the impression that the Bill is all about strengthening the council’s controls against the interests of street traders. On the contrary, the council works with them on many fronts. For example, it works with them to find alternative sites when they have concerns about their existing location, or when building works affect them. A study has been undertaken of street trading practices in Westminster and a number of recommendations have been made. The council will be working closely with the traders to pilot some of the recommendations. I hope that your Lordships will give the Bill a Second Reading and allow this well intentioned measure to pass today so that it can be scrutinised fully in Select Committee, where the evidence of witnesses both for and against the Bill will no doubt be given careful attention. I beg to move.