What the Associ ions are Doing
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Parliamentary Action on the "Blunder"
VOLLOWING the revelation by The Commercial Motor of the extraordinary blunder in Section 11 of the Road and Rail Traffic Act, questions are, as foreshadowed in last week's issue, being asked in the House of Commons.
Last week, Mr. Hepworth asked the Minister of Transport whether he would investigate the working of Section 11 2) to ascertain whether the railways were adopting a fair policy towards hauliers, and to discover whether the decisions of the Licensing Authorities were .always in the public interest. The Minister gave the totally unsatisfactory reply that the licensing system had been in operation for only a short time and was based on principles thoroughly considered by Parliament.
The. Commercial Motor understands that A.R.O. is taking action to focus further Parliamentary attention on the injustice which hauliers are suffering under this Section. It is expected that, in the near future, Capt. Strickland, leader of the Parliamentary road group, will ask the Minister whether he is aware that the railways, in contravention of Section 11 (2). are lodging objections to licence applications in those districts where they are not providing facilities.
In pointing out the blunder, we cited the case of an application being opposed by three railway companies, none of which operated in the district in which the haulier worked.