(Lab):
My Lords, to cut my contribution short, I shall quote from page 8
of the Explanatory Memorandum:
“A consequence of ratification is that unregistered trailers
could be turned away at the borders of other countries who have
ratified the 1968 Convention. Therefore, for operational reasons,
a trailer registration scheme needs to be implemented”.
I would have thought that critical to the process of consultation
was the AA, because at our borders that organisation is the last
port of call for people who need advice on what is going to
happen when they go abroad. The leaflets that it circulates are
about subjects such as travelling abroad, insurance arrangements
and health arrangements. You can pick them up in its kiosks at
Dover, or I suppose at any port where you have a roll-on,
roll-off ferry system. They should be made available. That is my
case, and I hope the AA is consulted.
(Con): My Lords,
the noble Baroness raises an important point. I am not sure we
should have a list in primary legislation because that gives the
Government top cover if they have not consulted someone. However,
just as the noble Lord, , suggested the
AA, I would add the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
That is an extremely important point.
My point about negative instruments is that if interested parties
have a problem, they can flag it up with us. However, if they are
not consulted about it or if they are consulted but do not get
anywhere at the official level, they can approach
parliamentarians and we can take it up with the Government. We
have a parliamentary toolkit that we can use. The noble Baroness
makes an important point about consultation, but I am sure that
the Minister will be able to reassure us.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department
for Transport (Baroness Sugg) (Con): My Lords, Ministers
and officials in my department have been engaging with
stakeholders on an ongoing basis throughout the development of
the Bill, as have the departmental agencies responsible for the
development of the respective systems associated with the Bill,
and obviously that consultation will continue as the Bill
progresses through both Houses and the regulations are drawn up.
While we are not able to provide illustrative examples, we have
given as much information as we can in the policy scoping
documents that were circulated and form the basis of the further
conversations that we are having with stakeholders.
We will have further consultation with the broad range in the
coming months, including all those referenced in the noble
Baroness’s amendment and many more. We speak regularly to the AA,
the RAC Foundation and DHL. We had a round table with the
industry a couple of weeks ago in London, there will be another
one on Monday in Birmingham and we will continue to do that.
Obviously we want to get these regulations right and make them
work as best they can for the industry, whether it be the
National Caravan Council, the haulage industry or any of the
people who are affected by this. There will also be a public
consultation on regulations in both parts of the Bill later this
year to allow a further contribution to the process...
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