Middlesbrough Council going Green
Middlesbrough Council Master Plan to save the planet..
prizes will be handed out by MBC for the most innovative method to save the planet..
one of the leading contenders for saving paper over the last months proudly displays
their handy work in the Middlesbrough Council Town Hall quadrangle during late July
2010.. in a
visible display as to what can be done to save paper..
General Ray "Master Plan" Mallon
is expected to be on hand to give out the awards for the best MBC schemers..
17 Oct 2005 : Column 625 section 143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988
The noble Lord said: In moving Amendment No. 100A, I shall speak also to Amendment No. 122A.
There are other amendments in the group to which Members of the Committee will speak in due course.
Uninsured driving is a serious offence. We estimate that there could be 2 million motorists on our roads
driving without insurance. The repercussions for those involved in accidents with uninsured motorists
are very serious. It costs honest motorists around £30 a year extra on their premiums to meet the costs
of uninsured driving.
Last year, we announced a package of measures to crack down on uninsured driving
following the recommendations of Professor David Greenaway, who carried out a review of motor insurance
in the UK. That included, among other measures, a new offence of being the registered keeper of a vehicle
which does not have insurance. We have consulted widely on that proposal and it was generally welcomed.
Consequently, we are taking this opportunity to introduce amendments to this effect into the Bill today.
Amendment No. 100A therefore introduces a new offence into Part VI of the Road Traffic Act 1988 of being
the registered keeper of a vehicle the use of which is not insured. Amendment No. 122A inserts a new Schedule
2A into the Road Traffic Act 1988 which will enable the enforcement agency to immobilise vehicles by
wheel clamping, and remove and dispose of them on reasonable suspicion that the new offence is being committed.
To avoid the offence, registered keepers will need to have either the registration number of their vehicle or
the vehicle's owner named in the policy of insurance or security. Identification of offenders will be done
from the record, ensuring consistency of approach, and also certainty—if you offend, you will be penalised.
We already have a similar measure on vehicle excise duty, which has contributed to a reduction
in evasion from 4.8 per cent to 3.4 per cent.
The Committee will welcome those figures; I know that noble
Lords will be satisfied only when they are down to 0 per cent, but there has been an improvement with regard
to vehicle excise duty evasion.
It represents a saving of £77 million per annum and 700,000 fewer untaxed
vehicles on the road.
Those vehicles being kept off-road for good reason that have no need for insurance cover will be exempt
so long as statutory off-road notice declaration has been made. Other exemptions will apply where the
registered keeper has transferred the vehicle to another keeper, or the vehicle has been stolen and the
registered keeper has complied with any prescribed requirements. Also excluded from the offence are
vehicles currently exempt from the insurance requirements in Part VI of the Road Traffic Act 1988.
Those include vehicles owned by authorities such as the police, the National Health Service and others.
If the vehicle is neither insured nor formally declared off-road, or if none of the other exemptions apply,
the offence will attract a fixed penalty of £100. The offender has 21 days in which to pay the fixed penalty,
during which no criminal proceedings can be instituted. The amount of the fixed penalty can be varied by
regulation, and regulations can also prescribe a lower amount to be paid if settled promptly.
New powers will
enable the enforcement authority to enforce effectively from the record. The amendments will allow the
Secretary of State to make regulations requiring the Motor Insurers' Information Centre to disclose information
to any prescribed person in connection with the enforcement of offences under Part VI of the Road Traffic Act 1988,
including the new offence of being the registered keeper of a vehicle without insurance.
The scheme will involve the enforcement agency running a regular exercise to compare the vehicles register
against the motor insurance database, to identify those vehicles apparently uninsured. We expect the enforcement
agency initially to send a warning letter, and if no remedial action is taken the keeper will receive the
fixed penalty notice. However, there are a number of persistent evaders who will ignore warning letters
and fixed penalty notices.
If an evader does not pay a penalty within 21 days, he or she is liable to
summary prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000. Also, to ensure that we are able to tackle those
persistent evaders efficiently and effectively, the new powers in Amendment No. 122A will enable the
enforcement agency to clamp and, in appropriate circumstances, dispose of uninsured vehicles.
Very similar powers have been introduced for vehicle excise duty evasion and have proved successful.
Amendment No. 122A therefore enables regulations to be made so that the enforcement authority can exercise
the powers where it reasonably believes that the new offence has been committed, and regardless of whether
criminal proceedings have been brought.