The
Committee consisted of the following
Members:
Chairman:
Mr. Clive
Betts
Bain,
Mr. William
(Glasgow, North-East)
(Lab)
Burden,
Richard
(Birmingham, Northfield)
(Lab)
Cawsey,
Mr. Ian
(Brigg and Goole)
(Lab)
Clark,
Paul
(Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for
Transport)
Clarke,
Mr. Charles
(Norwich, South)
(Lab)
Goodwill,
Mr. Robert
(Scarborough and Whitby)
(Con)
Howell,
John
(Henley) (Con)
Hunter,
Mark
(Cheadle)
(LD)
Knight,
Mr. Greg
(East Yorkshire)
(Con)
Leech,
Mr. John
(Manchester, Withington)
(LD)
Main,
Anne
(St. Albans)
(Con)
Slaughter,
Mr. Andy
(Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush)
(Lab)
Smith,
Mr. Andrew
(Oxford, East)
(Lab)
Stoate,
Dr. Howard
(Dartford)
(Lab)
Tami,
Mark
(Alyn and Deeside)
(Lab)
Wilson,
Mr. Rob
(Reading, East)
(Con)
Ben Williams, Committee
Clerk
attended the
Committee
The following also attended,
pursuant to Standing Order No.
118(2):
Raynsford,
Mr. Nick
(Greenwich and Woolwich)
(Lab)
Fourth
Delegated Legislation
Committee
Tuesday 26
January
2010
[Mr.
Clive Betts in the
Chair]
Draft
Motor Vehicles (International Circulation) (Amendment) Order
2010
4.30
pm
The
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Paul
Clark): I beg to
move,
That
the Committee has considered the draft Motor Vehicles (International
Circulation) (Amendment) Order
2010.
May
I say at the outset what a pleasure it is to serve under your
chairmanship for, I think, the first time, Mr. Betts? I am
delighted to see you in the
Chair.
On
21 October 2009, the European Union adopted a group of three community
regulations known as the road transport package. The order makes
consequential amendments to article 5 of the Motor Vehicles
(International Circulation) Order 1975 to update references to
community legislation, particularly on account of two of the
regulations in the packageEuropean Community regulations
1072/2009 and
1073/2009.
Regulation
1072/2009 on common rules for access to the international road haulage
market sets out new rules governing hauliers transporting goods by road
for hire or reward in the EU. The regulation also introduces clearer
rules and evidence requirements regarding when cabotage is allowed.
Cabotage, of course, is domestic goods operations by operators
registered in another EU state. The regulation also repeals and
replaces existing EU rules governing the carriage of goods by
road.
Regulation
1073/2009 on common rules for access to the international market for
coach and bus services sets out new rules for operators engaging in
international journeys in the EU using vehicles designed to carry
10 or more persons including the driver, either on their own
account or to carry passengers for hire and reward. The regulation
amends existing EC rules governing such journeys, and European
Community regulations are directly
applicable.
Article
5 of the 1975 order exempts from vehicle excise duty certain categories
of vehicles engaged in international operations that are regulated by
EC rules, including cabotage, and brought temporarily into the UK. The
amendments being made to the 1975 order serve simply to update
references to EC legislation, particularly that being replaced by
regulations 1072/09 and 1073/09. They do not make any changes to policy
position. The order applies to the whole of the United Kingdom. Vehicle
excise duty is an exempted matter and does not fall within the
jurisdiction of the Northern Ireland
Assembly.
Regulations
1072/09 and 1073/09 were negotiated over a two-year period. Overall,
the Government regard the outcome of those EU negotiations as a
positive one. We believe that the deal achieved was a good one because
it balances the need to maintain and improve road safety standards with
those of the industry and
consumers. It should also help to improve the environmental performance
of the international road haulage industry by reducing the number of
empty
runs.
The
Road Haulage Association, the Freight Transport Association and the
Confederation of Passenger Transport UK have welcomed the new
regulations. Indeed, industry representatives participated actively in
their development, and close contact was maintained with industry
bodies throughout the decision-making process, which led to the
adoption of the
regulations.
4.34
pm
Mr.
Robert Goodwill (Scarborough and Whitby) (Con): I thank
the Minister for introducing the regulations. The general principle
that the Opposition always wish to maintain in such matters is to
support the single market. As long as competition is fair, and as long
as measures increase its fairness, we will support it. I will talk more
about that
later.
Having
met a number of road haulage companies around the country, I know that
the standards maintained by our domestic road haulage industry are
second to none and are in marked contrast to those of some of the
foreign operators that ply their trade in the United Kingdom under the
cabotage rules.
We are also
against the gold-plating of EU legislation, which, sadly, happens all
too often in the United Kingdom, coupled with the flip side of that
where other countries are not so assiduous and zealous in implementing
legislation and directives in their own countries. We must be ever
mindful of the cost of any new measures, particularly in the light of
the economic situation both in the United Kingdom and in the rest of
the European Union. Although we had the good news this morning that we
have edged out of recession, we still face world oil prices that are
unstable, potentially rising, with the obvious effect that that has on
road haulage companies that use oil as their primary input.
The pressure
that has been placed on the British road haulage industry was most
markedly brought to me when, 18 months ago, I went to the truck show
and was told that there was a nine-month wait for a new Scania truck.
Now, if someone has the moneyor if a bank is prepared to lend
them the moneythey can buy one off the shelf. With that
pressure being placed on all sectors of the road haulage industry,
there is always that risk of increased cost-cutting, which I know the
traffic commissioners are keen to avoid despite the economic
circumstances.
The
issue of cabotage is of great concern to British haulage companies,
which feel that they are not operating on a level playing field. Often,
when they see foreign trucks plying their trade in the United Kingdom,
they wonder what rates they are charging, particularly for these return
loads, or the three journeys that can now be undertaken in seven days
under the new, tighter cabotage rules. Although the rules are being
portrayed as tighter, when trucks come in from the continent, they
rarely stay more than a week and, therefore, three journeys during a
period is not such a tightening of the rules as some would suggest.
Although the rules now no longer allow empty trucks to come into the
country to ply their trade, given the cost of a cross-channel journey I
suspect that that is not as big an issue as it may be in other EU
countries that do not have the additional cost of a ferry
journey.
The number of
foreign-registered vehicles being driven on UK roads continues to rise.
The proxy often used to measure the volume of foreign-registered heavy
goods traffic on Britains roads is the number of
foreign-registered vehicles leaving the country. In 2008, 1.67 million
foreign-registered vehicles left the UK, the figure having fallen back
slightly from an all-time high of 1.72 million in 2007.
Foreign-registered vehicles account for more than 80 per cent. of the
heavy goods traffic leaving the UK, and the proportion of vehicles that
are registered in the newest EU member states has increased rapidly in
recent years.
In 2008, 35
per cent. of all powered goods vehicles leaving the UK were registered
in the 12 newest EU member states. The number of foreign-registered
trucks leaving the UK has more than doubled in 10 yearsduring
part 2 of the relaxed cabotage rules. Foreign vehicles are
statistically more likely to be non-compliant than UK vehicles. Since
2006-07, prohibition rates for foreign-registered vehicles have
consistently been significantly higher than those for UK-registered
vehicles for all offences. Foreign-registered HGVs are also reportedly
involved in more accidents than UK-registered
vehicles.
Anne
Main (St. Albans) (Con): I am sure that my hon. Friend is
as aware as I am of the long campaign that my hon. Friend the Member
for Billericay (Mr. Baron) has been leading to ensure that
foreign trucks have mirrors so that the drivers can see properly on our
roads and avoid the blind spots that often contribute to such
accidents. We have not been terribly successful in ensuring that that
happens.
The
Chairman: Order. I caution the hon. Member for Scarborough
and Whitby that we are beginning to stray a little far from the narrow
remit of this order. Perhaps he will bear that mind as he responds and
continues his
comments.
Mr.
Goodwill: Thank you, Mr. Betts. I know that you
are always keen to keep us on track.
This measure
will have an effect on the number of foreign-registered vehicles on the
road in this country. The figures that I am about to relate regarding
the road worthiness of vehicles and the number of drivers who are
breaking drivers hours have a direct impact on road safety in
the UK. I know that the Minister and his Department are aware of that
and have stepped up checks and, of course, have handed out Fresnel
lenses in Calais. They admit that the issue is a problem and, despite
the fact that they have been targetingif that is the right
wordor paying particular attention to foreign trucks, levels of
failure of roadside tests are worryingly high. For example, the
prohibition rate for vehicles and trailers tested for roadworthiness
for UK-registered vehicles by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency
was 35.5 per cent., and for foreign-registered vehicles it
was 46.5 per cent., as stated in the Transport Committee report. The
prohibition rate for vehicles tested for drivers hours and
tachograph offences was 15.8 per cent. for UK-registered vehicles, and
23.9 per cent. for foreign-registered vehicles. For overloading
vehicles, the figure was 28.6 per cent. for UK-registered vehicles and
33.1 per cent. for foreign-registered
vehicles.
Therefore, in
all three casesdefective vehicles, drivers hours
regulation breaches and overloadingthe figures for
foreign-registered vehicles are higher than those of our own. In fact,
in 2007-08, the prohibition rate for Czech HGVs subjected to
roadworthiness tests was more than 60 per cent., with Polish and
Hungarian vehicles also exceeding 50 per cent. Belgian, German and
Italian vehicles all had prohibition rates of more than 40 per cent. of
those tested. Those figures are all the more worrying when one takes
into account the fact that the sophisticated targeting techniques used
to select UK vehicles for testing cannot be used for foreign-registered
vehicles. VOSA is able to target known and likely UK-registered
offenders through information garnered by the traffic commissioners and
by VOSA itself, through the operator compliance risk score, but
examiners have to rely on weigh-in motion censors and automatic number
plate recognition systems alone for foreign-registered vehicles. Given
that the UK vehicles are subjected a targeted approach and the approach
to foreign vehicles is less targeted, the actual figures could well be
worse. Will the Minister relax or change cabotage rules that result in
more defective vehicles and tired drivers on our
roads?
I welcome
the change, in May 2009, to the new graduated fixed financial penalty
deposit and immobilisation schemes. What are the early indications on
whether those schemes have been effective in reducing non-compliance? I
do not think that we have the figures yet for 2009, but the Minister
may have some early indication as to whether those very welcome new
measures have had an impact. Of course, other penalties, such as speed
camera fines, congestion charges and other fixed penalty notices, still
often go unpaid by foreign vehicles using our roads. Since last
October, there has been the potential for a European-wide scheme for
the collection of those fines. As I understand itand I am sure
the Minister will put me right if I am wrongthe UK is yet to
sign up to a scheme whereby if a Romanian driver breaks the speed limit
and is caught by a camera in this country, he can be contacted by his
postal address through the database, which I think the Netherlands
Government are maintaining. If he pays that fine when he gets the
notice that goes to the UK, and if he appeals that fine in the Romanian
court, then he still pays a fine but the Romanian court collects the
fine. Of course, as it is a two-way scheme, the opposite would apply
for a Romanian driver in the
UK.
The
Chairman: Order. The hon. Gentleman is beginning to stray
quite a long way off the fairly narrow remit of this regulation. The
regulation is about changing some of the specifics of the existing
regulations on cabotage, not about the general issue of penalties and
the broader nature of the scheme that he is beginning to get into
now.
Mr.
Goodwill: I stand chastised. However, I must put on the
record the fact that if a British driver is caught by a camera he will
have to pay his fine in the UK. Under the current situation, if an
eastern European driver is in the same circumstances it is unlikely
that he will have to pay that fine before he leaves the
country.
Nearly one
in 10 lorries in accidents in the UK are foreign. I welcome the
introduction of the Fresnel lenses and the initiatives taken by the
Government on that. I worry that if we have more cabotage, we will have
more
accidents. In evidence to the Transport Committee, Mr. Philip
Brown, the senior traffic commissioner, said that Britain
is
the
safest and best regulated within the European Union and that is down
to...VOSA and the Traffic
Commissioners
Will
the measures bring the rest of the EU up to our standards or merely
further gold-plate the best system in Europe, as the traffic
commissioner said, with no guarantees that other member states will
raise their game to comply fully? One fundamental problem, which I am
sure the Minister has heard from road haulage companies up and down the
country, is the unfairness in the way fuel duty and tolls are levied
across the EU.