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Bill Redrafted: To be Put to Parliament Next Month

24th October 1952
Page 29
Page 29, 24th October 1952 — Bill Redrafted: To be Put to Parliament Next Month
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THE Transport Bill has been redrafted and is expected to be placed before the House of Commons about the third week in November. It cannot become law before the end of March or early April next year. Mr. Bernard Winterbottom, national chairman of the Road Haulage Association, made this announcement before members discussed the Bill at their annual conference at Blackpool, last week.

All delegates were invited to attend the national council meeting, last Friday, to hear Mr. A. T. Lennox-Boyd, Minister of Transport, explain his proposals and answer questions from rank-and-file hauliers. This was an historic occasion for the R.H.A.

Mr. Winterbottom confessed his disappointment in the Bill, but said that, with all its faults, it was a great step forward. He expanded the explanation of the Association's policy, reported in last week's issue, and admitted that no progress had been made in some of the negotiations with the Minister.

No Concession on Limit The Minister had so far given no concession on the abolition of the 25mile limit, but, if it were true that the part of the levy designed to compensate the railways had been repealed, the R.H.A. could take some credit for it. The Association was, however, opposed to the whole of the levy, because there were 62,000 B-licence operators who could never gain any benefit from paying it.

Mr. Winterbottom revealed that the Ministry had informed the Association that, under the Bill, the Minister had power to require hauliers to pay the levy before the 25-mile limit was abolished, although this possibility had not been foreseen by the R.H.A. The matter would have to be put right.

The Association wanted the whole of the assets of the Road *Haulage Executive to be transferred to the Disposals board. Moreover, 'other than in exceptional cases, the Board should have power to make final decisions without reference to the Minister, and the procedure governing its actions Should be shortened.

A large degree of success had attended the R.H.A.'s efforts to restrict the ex-railway-owned road transport companies to the tonnage which they held when they were acquired by the British Transport Commission.

Premises la Transport Units The Bill required modification to make it clear that a man could buy premises, as well as vehicles, as part of a transport unit if he desired them.

In granting licences for R.H.E. vehicles, only those which were actually in use at the time of passing of the 'Bill should be authorized and the rest should be sold. This was another modification proposed.

These points, said Mr. Winterbottom, had been submitted to the Minister.

He later added that a system of priority in the sale of transport units could not be devised, because they had to be put up to open tender.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd told members that the 25-mile limit would not be lifted at the present stage. He is understood to have asked that the industry should tell him what was needed, so that the Government would have guidance in formulating new proposals.

A frank discussion took place and members asked some pertinent questions.

Speaking at the opening of Manchester's new air terminal building, last Friday, Mr. Lennox-Boyd said he did not expect that the Bill would be wholly acceptable, but he had tried to make it something which any subsequent Labour Government would not want to alter.

GLASGOW SELL-OUT: NEW QUESTION

AS the convener was present at the meeting of Glasgow Transport Committee last week, Cllr. W. N. Samuels asked him if it were his intention to, open negotiations with the British Transport Commission to take over the transport 'department. [At a previous meeting at which the convener was absent, Lord Greenhill had replied in the negative to Cllr. Samuel's question.] Cllr. R. McAllister, the convener, replied that he had no authority to do as suggested. His statement, he said, was made to call attention to the serious financial position of the undertaking.

Bailie G. Reid asked what steps the convener had taken to appoint a panel of experts to investigate the affairs of the department, and was told that the matter would be raised by the transport committee in the near future.


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