I welcome the debate on new clause 18. The hon. Member for Walthamstow (Stella Creasy) referred to the proposals as a “bauble”, but this is a serious matter and I am not sure that the victims, the police and the road safety charities behind the new clause would appreciate it being referred to as a bauble. However, I appreciate that her comments were being made in the general context of the Bill.
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I have received some criticism for tabling the new clause and amendment 120 at a rather late stage in the proceedings. However, the issue was raised last year with the Department for Transport, and hon. Members will recall that my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon Central (Gavin Barwell) and I raised the matter on Second Reading. My hon. Friend has rightly been lauded for his excellent campaign on the issue. We relied at the time on the explanatory notes to the Bill, and we received assurances that a person who killed someone when driving while over the limit in relation to drugs or alcohol would face the prospect of being charged with the offence of causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drink or drugs, which carries a
heavy penalty. On the basis of those assurances, we proceeded to the Bill Committee, where my hon. Friend the Minister gave further clarification and assurances that the gap that I have described had already been filled. Subsequently, however, we have realised that there is a need for further clarity.
I welcome the Minister’s response to the new clause. I also welcome the fact that he and the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, my hon. Friend the Member for Wimbledon (Stephen Hammond), recognise that this is an important issue. I appreciate the Minister’s openness in saying that if the necessary evidence were to come to light, an undertaking would be made to review the case for amending the legislation. That is a welcome commitment.
Only 27 people were charged with causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drink or drugs, even though 220 deaths were classified as having that as a contributory factor, which suggests that there is a gap. I invite the Government to work with me to get beneath those figures and find out why that difference exists between those two numbers. There is also a difference between the number of people tried for the offence, which was 27, and the number of people convicted, which was zero. Is there perhaps an over-reliance on the simple offence of driving with excess alcohol or while over the limit in relation to drugs?
I will seek to meet the Minister’s challenge to me and others to bring any additional evidence to the Government’s attention. I hope that there will then be a joint investigation into that evidence that will culminate in the Government fulfilling their obligation to amend the legislation appropriately. In the light of the Minister’s assurances, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the clause.
Clause, by leave, withdrawn.