London Local Authorities and Transport for London (No. 2) Bill [Lords]

It gives me great pleasure to move amendment 1 and to discuss the other amendments in the group. ...

The critics to whom the hon. Gentleman refers have obviously never had the opportunity of being i...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I do not wish to crow, other than to say that it is importan...

I understand my hon. Friend’s point. Is it possible that what he mentions is done to enable autho...

It may be that my hon. Friend, as so often, anticipates the response to come from my hon. Friend ...

Might not confusion result from the fact that measures are to be introduced on different days in ...

It could be, but I am not going to try to follow my hon. Friend by making accusations against the...

I just wonder whether my hon. Friend’s amendment will achieve what he seeks. Are these parts of t...

My hon. Friend raises another point that I had not thought about, which is that these subsections...

Amendment 3 specifically suggests that the approval of the Secretary of State for Transport shoul...

I am not learned in any sense of the term, but this amendment has been selected and I thought tha...

My hon. Friend comes at this with far more expertise and knowledge than I do, because whereas I n...

Whether it was a meaningless rubber-stamping exercise or something of substance would depend very...

My hon. Friend rightly says that I would be entirely assiduous should this onerous burden be plac...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for the first part of his remarks and I hope that in due course w...

I totally agree with my hon. Friend; this is a ludicrous state of affairs. Also, the Bill says “a...

Exactly. My hon. Friend makes a very good point.

Clause 5(5) falls into the “ludicrous and ...

The hon. Gentleman is making a strong argument for the amendment. If I heard him correctly, he sa...

I hope so, but I have not yet received formal notice about this amendment. The two amendments abo...

I was not indicating whether we supported or opposed the amendment; all I was saying was that the...

The hon. Gentleman suddenly seems rather nervous about committing himself. I am grateful to him f...

On amendment 6, which would leave out subsection (5), has my hon. Friend had any thoughts about w...

I find that a rather testing intervention, because I am rather against the idea of using e-mails ...

Spam.

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. They go into the spam folder, so they are effectively never rece...

May we stick to amendment 7 for the time being? I agree with my hon. Friend’s general premise. Mo...

That could well be an unintended consequence—

Or an intended consequence.

I do not think it would be an intended consequence. I concede that my hon. Friend may have got me...

My hon. Friend, rather uncharacteristically, is rushing through his amendments and catching me ou...

Yes. If we were to leave out “may” and insert “shall”, as amendment 7 proposes, but not make amen...

It is clear, but I wonder whether my hon. Friend could expand a little on why he thinks the highw...

In a sense, that is the other side of the coin my hon. Friend has just used. The answer is that i...

Is my hon. Friend aware of the definition of “owner”? Is it a leasehold-owner or someone who owns...

My hon. Friend makes another good point. I do not know. The explanatory notes define “owner” in r...

I agree with my hon. Friend wholeheartedly. Does he agree that there may well be a perfectly good...

Absolutely. The clause refers to anyone who

“interferes with a relevant barrier without law...

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Mr Chope) for tabling these various amendment...

Will my hon. Friend give the House one or two examples of the sorts of signs and effects that wou...

There will be times when signage or lamps are required, possibly on a temporary basis, and theref...

Is not the point that provision is already set out in the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to dea...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I am making an intervention.

The Minister is getting carried away. He cannot intervene on someone who is already intervening. ...

Does the Minister wish to intervene?

Wearily he climbs. Let me try and clear up this point. I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for...

I thank the Minister for that helpful intervention. Amendment 4 would mean that local authorities...

My hon. Friend is doing a good job of explaining the position. However, if I heard him correctly,...

It is clearly incumbent on the local authority to make every effort to establish the name and own...

On that basis, if local authorities already have the power to serve notices, I am not quite sure ...

It just reinforces and restates existing legislation, and I think it is sensible to have the rele...

My hon. Friend says that the subsection just restates the existing law in section 233 of the 1972...

For clarity and continuity it is sensible to restate, not change, the position that already exist...

The explanatory memorandum states that

“Clause 6 would replace section 133 with provisions ...

The key point is who repairs the damage initially, or how the money is recovered. The point is th...

I am not sure that I entirely agree with that interpretation. All that the amendments tabled by m...

I thank my hon. Friend for that point, but that is completely the wrong way around. The polluter ...

I think we are at cross-purposes. My hon. Friend rightly said that the polluter should pay, but m...

The highways authority already has a duty to keep the highways in good repair. As I read the amen...

Yes, it would

No, it wouldn’t. It says that the local authority “shall” step in and do the work, irrespective. ...

I am not entirely sure that the matter is as clear-cut as my hon. Friend says. As I understand it...

Clearly, this is a matter of interpretation. The purpose of placing barriers across a traffic hig...

Obviously we want to test out the new provision, because it would create a new criminal offence, ...

Having made something of a study of such gates in London over the years, I can say that they are ...

My earlier intervention fell on stony ground, so I will try from a different angle. My hon. Frien...

It would be shocking; indeed, it would be shocking if the emergency services did not have the key...

Is it not also the case that the emergency services have a statutory power of entry when they are...

I cannot imagine that anyone who was acting under the authority and direction of a member of the ...

rose—

rose—

What a choice! I call Mr Nuttall.

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. As always, it is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for...

Well, let me help the hon. Gentleman. We are discussing the amendments, and we do not need to hea...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am indeed. In one sentence, let me say that this is relevant beca...

Don’t worry, I do not need to see the Bill shrinking before my eyes. All I want to hear being dis...

I was just finishing the sentence, Mr Deputy Speaker.

I shall start with amendments 1 and 2...

The hon. Gentleman says that he is not convinced by the arguments of his hon. Friend the Member f...

What I cannot understand is why we would need legislation to remove a sign. I understand why legi...

On reflection, would my hon. Friend agree that the biggest problem with the clause is that it cri...

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. That is one of the problems with the clause: it will pote...

rose—

Order. I call Mr Philip Davies, and I am modestly confident that the contribution will be relativ...

Among your many other great qualities, Mr Speaker, you are clearly a mind reader. I was only just...

At the risk of hastening my hon. Friend on, will he specify which he thinks are the best amendmen...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend and I certainly will do that. To cut to the chase, his strongest ...

I am grateful for the opportunity to follow the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies).

Wh...

With your encouragement, Mr Speaker, this has been a very civilised debate and we have covered th...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I am clear that he wishes at some stage to test the will of ...

I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

I beg to move amendment 10.

With this is will be convenient to consider amendments 11 to 19.

These amendments relate to part 3 of the Bill, which deals with “Builders’ Skips”. It is importan...

rose—

I will take my hon. Friend’s intervention shortly, but I am going to anticipate it in my next com...

I congratulate my hon. Friend on tabling this amendment. The promoters are happy to accept it, an...

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend.

Amendments 12 and 13 deal with the level of penalty f...

Will my hon. Friend clarify what sums are involved at levels 1, 3 and 5 so that we may better ass...

I am afraid that that is the exam question I hoped would not be asked, because I do not know the ...

Does my hon. Friend have in mind a scenario in which a skip that has been properly lit is vandali...

That is exactly the scenario I had in mind. The owner might employ security guards to look at the...

Does my hon. Friend accept that if amendment 14 is accepted and requires someone to take “any rea...

Exactly. Sometimes the imagination of those who draft private Bills runs away with them and they ...

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Mr Chope) for outlining his various amendment...

My hon. Friend has said on a couple of occasions that this Bill is a decriminalisation measure. M...

The point is that these are criminal offences at the moment. The proposals would put the power re...

On that point, will my hon. Friend inform the House what sort of court someone would be taken to ...

A penalty charge notice would be issued initially. If that is paid, that is the end of the matter...

My hon. Friend says that it is perfectly reasonable that somebody who owns a skip should be subje...

The current position is that were that to happen and lighting was removed, a criminal offence wou...

The logical conclusion is that the person on whom the authorities have served the notice must tur...

Clearly, it would be incumbent on the person served with the PCN to substantiate that the contrav...

If I remember correctly, my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing North (Stephen Pound) pointed out o...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for clarifying the issue.

In summary, let me say on behalf of th...

I seek to fulfil the same role in this debate as I did in the debate on the previous group of ame...

Perhaps I can assist my hon. Friend. The difference might be that clause 8(1) refers to “the name...

I appreciate that point, but amendment 10, standing in the name of my hon. Friend the Member for ...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his support of my amendment. Does he accept that exactly what...

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. His amendment goes with the flow of the legislation rathe...

If I may, I will start where my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Philip Davies)left off, and w...

Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the big problems is that local authorities have already dem...

My hon. Friend makes a good point, as that is one reason why one is slightly sceptical about this...

In summing up an excellent debate, may I thank my hon. Friend the Members for Bury North (Mr Nutt...

I appreciate that my hon. Friend is summing up, but are we not talking about the same case that w...

Exactly the same point applies in relation to gated roads, which is why it is a pity that we have...

Seriatim!

I am delighted that the hon. Gentleman is joining in with the debate, albeit from a sedentary pos...