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Lord Whitty moved Amendment No. 61:
On Question, amendment agreed to.
Clause 255 [Landing places: transfer of certain rights and obligations]:
Clause 260 [Supplementary provisions]:
Lord Whitty moved Amendment No. 63:
The noble Lord said: My Lords, in moving Amendment No. 63 I wish to speak also to Amendments Nos. 64 to 67. This group of amendments provides a mechanism for the transfer of property and liabilities associated with a road which becomes or ceases to be a GLA road by order of the mayor provided elsewhere in the Bill. These provisions are necessary because the transfer provisions elsewhere in the Bill do not provide for these kinds of transfer and we need to rectify that. I beg to move.
Earl Attlee: My Lords, I am grateful for the Minister's explanation but I have a slight anxiety. The proposed new Section 266A(3) in Amendment No. 66 provides that,
Lord Whitty: My Lords, I suspect that I shall have to write to the noble Earl to satisfy him completely. If a substandard road is transferred, that will have been taken into account in making the order and the liability would be transferred. I am not sure that I understand the noble Earl's reference to statutory undertakers unless he refers to utilities and others who may dig up a road. I think that is a rather different point which we discussed earlier today. That situation is not affected by the ability to transfer a road in future. However, I shall give the noble Earl a fuller answer in due course.
On Question, amendment agreed to.
Lord Whitty moved Amendments Nos. 64 to 67:
Page 152, line 5, at end insert--
("(2) Before commencing any works for the purposes of exercising the powers under subsection (1) above, Transport for London shall--
(a) comply with any requirement in an enactment to obtain a licence or consent in respect of the works, or
(b) if there is no such requirement, obtain the consent to the works of any person who is under a duty to maintain the waterway to which they relate.").
Page 156, line 22, at end insert (", and
(ii) for "and 124" there shall be substituted ", 124 and 266B";").
"any right or liability in respect of--work done, services rendered, goods delivered"
is not transferred by the proposed new clause. What would happen if a road had recently been resurfaced
and the work was substandard? It seems to me that the benefit or otherwise of the work that is done would not be transferred to the new authority. What would happen if the road surface was damaged by a statutory undertaker? It does not seem to me that the right to have it repaired would be transferred. If the Minister cannot answer that question straight away perhaps he will write to me and relieve my anxieties.
Page 156, line 28, at end insert (", and
(ii) for "or 124" there shall be substituted "124 or 266B";").
Page 156, line 30, at end insert (", and
(ii) for "or 124" there shall be substituted ", 124 or 266B";").
After Clause 260, insert the following new clause--
(" . After section 266 of the Highways Act 1980 there shall be inserted--
"Transfer of property and liabilities upon a highway becoming or ceasing to be a GLA road.
266A.--(1) This section applies where, by virtue of an order made by the Greater London Authority under section 14B(2) above, a highway or proposed highway becomes, or ceases to be, a GLA road.
(2) As from the operative date there are transferred to the new highway authority by virtue of this section--
(a) the property mentioned in subsection (4) below, in so far as, immediately before the operative date, it was vested in the former highway authority for the purposes of their functions in relation to the transferred highway, and
(b) all liabilities incurred by any such authority for the purposes of its functions in relation to the transferred highway and not discharged before the operative date, other than loans and loan charges,
and the property and liabilities so transferred vest, by virtue of this section, in the new highway authority.
(3) There is not transferred to the new highway authority by virtue of this section any right or liability in respect of--
(a) work done, services rendered, goods delivered, or money due for payment, before the operative date, or
(b) damages or compensation for any act or omission before that date, or
(c) the price of, or compensation for, any land purchased, or for which a contract to purchase has been concluded, before that date.
(4) The property referred to in subsection (2)(a) above is--
(a) land, other than land--
(i) vested in the former highway authority for the purpose of being used for the storage of materials required wholly or mainly for the maintenance and improvement of other highways, or
(ii) acquired for the improvement or development of frontages to the highway, or of land adjoining or adjacent to the highway, and
(b) all other property (including unexpended balances of any grants paid by the Minister to the former highway authority), other than--
(i) materials to be used for the maintenance or improvement of the highway, and
(ii) the unexpended balances of any loans raised by the former highway authority.
(5) Any property vested in the new highway authority by virtue of this section shall be held by it subject to all covenants, conditions and restrictions subject to which the property was held by the former highway authority and to all liabilities affecting the property, except liabilities referred to in subsection (3) above.
(6) The new highway authority and the former highway authority may agree, on such terms as they think fit--
(a) that any property or liabilities (except loans and loan charges) acquired or incurred by the former highway authority for the purposes of their functions in relation to the transferred highway, other than property or liabilities transferred to the new highway authority by virtue of this section, shall be transferred to the new highway authority, or
(b) that any property or liabilities transferred to the new highway authority by virtue of this section shall be re-transferred to the former highway authority.
(7) Any dispute between the new highway authority and any other person as to the property or liabilities transferred by virtue of this section shall be determined by arbitration.
(8) Paragraphs 1 and 3 to 8 of Schedule 21 to this Act shall have effect for the purpose of providing for transitional matters arising where a highway or proposed highway becomes, or ceases to be, a GLA road as it applies where a highway becomes, or ceases to be, a trunk road; but in having such effect those paragraphs shall be treated as if--
(a) for the references to a trunk road there were substituted references to a GLA road, and
(b) for the references to the Minister there were substituted references to the new highway authority (within the meaning of this section).
(9) For the purposes of this section--
"former highway authority" means the highway authority for the transferred highway immediately before the operative date;
"new highway authority" means the highway authority for the transferred highway immediately after the operative date;
"operative date" means the date on which the highway or proposed highway becomes, or ceases to be, a GLA road;
"property" includes property, rights and powers of every description; and
"transferred highway" means the highway or proposed highway which is the subject of the order under section 14B(2) above.".").
After Clause 260, insert the following new clause--
(" . After section 266A of the Highways Act 1980 there shall be inserted--
"Transfer of employees upon a highway becoming or ceasing to be a GLA road.
266B.--(1) This section applies where, by virtue of an order made by the Greater London Authority under section 14B(2) above, a highway or proposed highway becomes, or ceases to be, a GLA road.
(2) The Greater London Authority may, if it is necessary in connection with the highway becoming, or ceasing to be, a GLA road, by order make schemes containing provision for or in connection with the transfer from the former highway authority to the new highway authority of rights and liabilities under contracts of employment.
(3) The rights and liabilities which may be transferred by such a scheme include rights and liabilities which would not otherwise be capable of being transferred or assigned.
(4) Subsections (5) to (7) below apply where any rights or liabilities under a contract of employment are transferred by virtue of this Act.
(5) Anything done by or in relation to the former highway authority in respect of the employee before the day on which the transfer of the rights and liabilities takes effect shall be treated on and after that day as done by or in relation to the new highway authority.
(6) For the purposes of Part XI of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (redundancy payments etc) the employee shall not be regarded as having been dismissed by virtue of the transfer.
(7) For the purposes of that Act, the employee's period of employment with the former highway authority shall count as a period of employment with the new highway authority, and the change of employment shall not break the continuity of the period of employment.
(8) An order under this section shall be of no effect unless--
(a) it is made with the consent of the relevant highway authority; or
(b) if that consent is refused, it is confirmed (with or without modification) by the Secretary of State.
(9) For the purposes of subsection (8) above, the relevant highway authority is--
(a) in a case where the order under section 14B above directs that a highway or proposed highway shall become a GLA road, the former highway authority; and
(b) in a case where the order directs that a GLA road shall cease to be such a road, the new highway authority."
(10) Section 266A(9) above also applies for the purposes of this section.".").
On Question, amendments agreed to.
Clause 267 [GLA side roads]:
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