Road Transport Topics
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In Parliament
By Our Special Parliamentary Correspondent
PROPOSALS TO AMEND ABNORMAL-LOADS ORDERS.
I N the House of Commons, Sir John Wardlaw-Milne desired the Minister of Transport to state how many interviews his department had had with heavy-haulage contractors, who were suffering* under the Regulations of the Road Traffic. Act, 1930. He asked, also, if it were his intention, as a result of the representations made to him, to promote an amendment to the Act to meet the difficulties which had been pointed out to him.
Captain A. Hudson, the Parliamentary Secretary, replied that he assumed Sir John Wardlaw-Milne to refer to the Orders applying to the movement of abnormal loads by road. This, he said., was a matter which affected not only haulage contractorS but also highway 'and bridge authorities and the police. Bodies representing all these interests had been consulted and, as a result, the Minister proposed to amend the Orders in question_ L.P.T.B. PROFITING BY OBSOLETE ACT?
A FORTNIGHT .ago Captain Pik Erskine-Bolst asked the Minister of Transport whether his attention had been called to the fact that, owing to the ability of theLondon Passenger Transport Board to avail itself of the Public Authorities Protection' Act, 1893, it was rejecting all claims in which action had not been instituted within six months after the actual act; whether he could give the number of such claims which had been rejected, and whether, in view of the fact that in 1893, mechanically propelled vehicles had. not been invented, he would consider the desirability of introducing legislation depriving the L.P.T.B. of those privileges and placing it on an equal footing with private persons.
Mr. Hore-Belisha has now replied to the effect that he ix unable to give the number of claims against the Board in respect of which it had pleaded the Public Authorities Protection Act,. 1893, as no record had been kept of such cases. He is, however, informed that, notwithstanding the protection afforded by the Act, the Board had made payments on claims where such a course seemed to he equitable. It would not seem appropriate, he continued, to introduce legislation to deprive the Board of any statutory protection to which it might be entitled as a result of the status which Parliament conferred upon it in 1.933.
TAXI-MEN COMPLAIN OF GROWTH OF BILKING.
MR. WILMOT stated that the organization of the taxi-men comeilained that the despicable practice of bilking
was on the increase, with the result that drivers lost much time and money in chasing defaulters and, frequently when the cases were brought before the Courts, got only fare and no expenses. Sir . John Simon, the Home Secretary, said that, if this organization wished to communicate with him, he would be glad to consider its views.
PORTABLE 'WEIGHING MACHINES LIABLE TO DAMAGE TYRES?
THE Minister was asked by Captain Strickland whether his attention had been drawn to the conviction at Hletchley of a transport company, for forbidding its driver to have his twintyred lorry weighed on a portable weighing machine, which was not capable of taking both tyresat once, with the conseouent risk of tyre damage. The road inspector, he said, admitted that the driver offered to take his
vehicle to a weighbridge. He also inquired whether the Minister would take steps to provide for such procedure to be followed in any future cases of a similar nature.
Captain Hudson, Parliamentary Secretary, replied that his attention. had been drawn to this case, but he was not to be taken as accepting the statement that the inspector admitted that the driver offered to go to a weighbridge. With regard to the second question, he was advised that the risk of damage, in such circumstances, was, negligible and the Minister of Transport,. therefore,_ proposed to take no action on the lines suggested.
MANY COMPENSATION CLAIMS. AGAINST L.P.T.B.
UTINDER the London Passenger Transport Act, 1933, it was stated, 490 claims for compensation (practically all for alleged differences in wages or conditions of service) had been made against the London Passenger Transport Board by persons formerly employed by independent bus undertakings whose businesses had been transferred to, or acquired hy,• the Board. Of these claims 194 were outstanding.
DELAY IN SETTLING _ ACQUISITION CASES.
TTimMinister said that 126 independent undertakings had been transferred to, or acquired .by, the L.P.T.B. under the 1933 Act, in connection with which 64 cases had been settled by agreement or the determine:. tion of the Arbitration Tribunal, whilst
62 more yet remained for settlement,
Commander Marsden asked whether, in view of the fact that these undertakings were taken away from their owners against their wishes by Act of Parliament, it was not too long to wait two years for • a settlement' of the claims, and whether the Minister would use his powers to force a settlement to be made.
Mr. Hore-Belisha replied that he had no formal powers, but that he had communicated with the appropriate authority. The triblinal were under-. stood to consider that arguments, except on matters of fact, would be curtailed in future cases in view of 'the long discussions on 'previous cases, and, further, the Board had paid, or offered to pay, sums on account of the amounts ultimately to be awarded by the tribunal.
Mr. North asked why those claims took such a long time to settle, and the Minister replied, ".Because the arguments are so very protracted."
NEARLY MOM A AND B • LICENCES ISSUED.
THE ,Minister of Transport -stated that preliminary figuresindicated that, to March 31, last, there had been. issued over 47,000 A and B licences for the full currency periods,' authorizing the use of over 110-,000 vehicles. In addition, more than 50,000 short-term licences had been issued, covering vehicles the number of which had not been reported to him. He had no information regarding the number of vehicles in respect of which licences had been refused.
INADEQUATE SUPPLIES OF HOME. PRODUCED OIL.
I N the House "of Lords, the Duke of Montrose raised the question of the adequacy of the supplies of oil fuel
from British coat Our present pro7 auction of oil, he said, represented per cent. of our entire national requirements The Earl of Munster replied that in 1934 the number ot low-temperature distillation, plants in operation was nine. The quantity of crude oil obtained from them in 1933 was 741,000 gallons and
in 1934, 767,000 gallons. The main sources of supply had been coke ovens, gas works and the shale-oil industry. The production of motor spirit from these sources had materially increased in the past year or two. There should be a much larger increase in the immediate future when the hydrogenation plants under construction came into full operation, The Minister of Mines had given the production of motor spirit from indigenous materials for the year as 60,000,000 gallons, and the figure for next year was expected to be 50 per cent. higher.
He was advised that the present consumption of fuel by the R.A.F. was approximately 6,500,000 gallons. Nine R.A.F. stations were now rising fuel of which petrol distilled from British coal was a large ingredient.