Greater London Authority Bill - continued        House of Lords
SCHEDULE 22, ROAD USER CHARGING - continued

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Exemptions, reduced rates etc
      11. - (1) The Secretary of State may by regulations make provision for or in connection with-
 
 
    (a) exemptions from charge,
 
    (b) the application of reduced rates of charge, or
 
    (c) the imposition of limits on the charges payable,
  in the case of any prescribed class of motor vehicles or any prescribed description of disabled or other persons.
 
      (2) Subject to any regulations under sub-paragraph (1) above, a charging scheme may make provision for or in connection with-
 
 
    (a) exemptions from charge,
 
    (b) the application of reduced rates of charge, or
 
    (c) the imposition of limits on the charges payable,
  in the case of any particular class of motor vehicles or description of persons.
 
 
Penalty charges
      12. - (1) Regulations may make provision for or in connection with the imposition, notification, payment, adjudication or enforcement of penalty charges in respect of acts, omissions, events or circumstances relating to or connected with a charging scheme.
 
      (2) Regulations under sub-paragraph (1) above may make provision for or in connection with setting the rates of penalty charges (which may include provision for discounts or surcharges).
 
 
Liability for charges
      13. - (1) Regulations may make provision for or in connection with making the registered keeper of a motor vehicle, or such other person as may be prescribed, liable to pay any charges imposed in respect of the vehicle under or by virtue of a charging scheme.
 
      (2) Regulations may make provision for or in connection with making it a defence for the registered keeper of a motor vehicle to show that at the time of an event giving rise to the imposition of charges another person was driving the vehicle without the registered keeper's consent.
 
      (3) Regulations may make provision for sums payable under or by virtue of a charging scheme to be recoverable as a civil debt.
 
      (4) Any reference in this paragraph to charges includes a reference to penalty charges.
 
 
Installation of equipment on roads or elsewhere
      14. A charging authority may install, or authorise the installation, of any equipment used or to be used in connection with the operation or enforcement of the charging scheme.
 
 
Accounts and funds
      15. - (1) A charging authority shall keep an account of their income and expenditure in respect of each of the authority's charging schemes.
 
      (2) Each of the following bodies, namely-
 
 
    (a) the Authority,
 
    (b) Transport for London, and
 
    (c) a London borough council,
  shall keep an account of their income and expenditure in respect of the sums received by the body which represent net proceeds of charging schemes for which the body is not the charging authority.
 
      (3) As soon as possible after the end of each financial year, each of the bodies required to keep an account under sub-paragraph (1) or (2) above shall prepare a statement of that account for that year.
 
      (4) A statement of account required to be prepared under sub-paragraph (3) above for any financial year shall be published-
 
 
    (a) in the case of a statement of account prepared by Transport for London, in the annual report of Transport for London under section 161 of this Act for that year;
 
    (b) in any other case, in the annual accounts for that year of the body which prepared the statement of account.
      (5) At the end of each financial year-
 
 
    (a) any deficit in an account required to be kept under sub-paragraph (1) or (2) above shall be made good out of the body's general fund; and
 
    (b) any surplus in any such account shall be dealt with in accordance with sub-paragraphs (6) and (7) below.
      (6) Any such surplus shall be applied towards making good to the general fund any amount charged to that fund under sub-paragraph (5)(a) above in respect of the account in question in the ten years immediately preceding the financial year in question.
 
      (7) So much of any surplus as remains after the application of sub-paragraph (6) above shall be carried forward in the account in question to the next financial year.
 
      (8) In the application of this paragraph in relation to Transport for London, any reference to its general fund shall be taken as a reference to its gross income.
 
 
Application of the net proceeds
      16. - (1) In the case of any charging scheme which comes into force during the period of ten years beginning with the inception of the Authority, the net proceeds of the scheme shall, during the scheme's initial period, be available only for application for relevant transport purposes by any one or more of the following bodies, namely-
 
 
    (a) the Authority;
 
    (b) Transport for London; or
 
    (c) a London borough council.
      (2) Except as provided by sub-paragraph (1) above, the net proceeds of a charging scheme shall be applied only as may be specified in, or determined in accordance with, regulations under this sub-paragraph.
 
      (3) Regulations under sub-paragraph (2) above may include provision conferring a discretion on any body or person.
 
      (4) The provision that may be made by regulations under sub-paragraph (2) above includes provision for sub-paragraph (1) above to continue to apply, but with the substitution for the number of years for the time being there mentioned of a number of years greater than ten.
 
      (5) The net proceeds of charging schemes may only be applied for purposes which provide value for money.
 
      (6) Sub-paragraphs (1) to (5) above are without prejudice to paragraph 15(6) above.
 
      (7) In this paragraph-
 
 
    "the inception of the Authority" means the commencement of the term of office of the Mayor and Assembly members returned at the first ordinary election;
 
    "the initial period", in the case of any charging scheme, means-
 
      (a) the period of ten years beginning with the coming into force of the scheme; or
 
      (b) such longer period as the Secretary of State may allow in the case of any particular scheme.
 
Provisions supplementary to paragraph 16
      17. - (1) Before making any regulations under paragraph 16(2) above, the Secretary of State shall make an assessment of what he considers to be-
 
 
    (a) the likely amounts of net proceeds of charging schemes; and
 
    (b) the potential for spending such net proceeds on relevant transport purposes which provide value for money.
      (2) Before making any such regulations, the Secretary of State shall consult the Authority.
 
      (3) The Secretary of State may issue guidance to the Authority, Transport for London and the London borough councils with respect to the appraisal of whether any application of net proceeds of a charging scheme for any purpose provides value for money.
 
      (4) In determining how to apply the net proceeds of charging schemes, the Authority, Transport for London and any London borough council shall comply with any guidance issued by the Secretary of State under sub-paragraph (3) above.
 
      (5) The Secretary of State may at any time vary the guidance under sub-paragraph (3) above.
 
      (6) In determining for the purposes of paragraph 16 above when the initial period there mentioned begins or expires in the case of any charging scheme, regulations may make provision as to circumstances in which-
 
 
    (a) the same charging scheme is to be regarded as continuing in force, notwithstanding the making of amendments or the revocation and replacement (with or without modifications) of a scheme; or
 
    (b) a different scheme is, or is not, to be regarded as coming into force.
 
Apportionment of net proceeds of charging schemes
      18. - (1) Subject to any provision made by regulations under paragraph 16(2) above, the Authority may require a charging scheme to include provision for such portion of the net proceeds as the Authority may determine to be paid to-
 
 
    (a) the Authority,
 
    (b) Transport for London, or
 
    (c) such London borough councils as may be specified or described by the Authority,
  for application for relevant transport purposes.
 
      (2) In this Schedule, any reference to a charging authority's share of the net proceeds of a charging scheme is a reference to so much of the net proceeds of the scheme as remains after the making of any payments to other bodies or persons required by virtue of sub-paragraph (1) above or regulations under paragraph 16(2) above.
 
      (3) For the purposes of this Schedule, the payment by the Authority of a sum received by the Authority by virtue of sub-paragraph (1) above to any body corporate for the purpose of the application of that sum by that body for relevant transport purposes shall be taken to be the application of that sum by the Authority for relevant transport purposes.
 
 
Charging authority's 10 year plan for their share
      19. - (1) A charging scheme must include a statement of the charging authority's proposed general plan for applying the authority's share of the net proceeds of the scheme during the opening ten year period.
 
      (2) In sub-paragraph (1) above, "the opening ten year period", in relation to any charging scheme, means the period which-
 
 
    (a) begins with the date on which the scheme comes into force; and
 
    (b) ends with the tenth financial year that commences on or after that date.
      (3) An order containing a charging scheme shall not come into force unless and until the statement required by sub-paragraph (1) above has been approved-
 
 
    (a) by the Secretary of State; and
 
    (b) if the scheme is a borough scheme, by the Authority.
      (4) In the case of a borough scheme, an application for approval under sub-paragraph (3)(a) above may only be made-
 
 
    (a) by the Authority acting on behalf of the charging authority; and
 
    (b) after the giving by the Authority of the approval required by sub-paragraph (3)(b) above.
 
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Prepared 27 October 1999