New Bill offers more freedom
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by Nicky Clarke • Licensing Authorities' powers are to be extended and operators will no longer need permits to exempt them from the London Lorry Ban, if parliament approves the new Deregulation and Contracting Out Bill.
Under the bill LAs will gain the power to: • Review or revoke previous decisions following procedural errors; • Correct papers following clerical errors; • Impose road safety, as well as environmental conditions, on goods vehicle operating centres; • Appoint a financial assessor for assistance in financial questions.
The Freight Transport Association is disappointed that the deregulatory measures fail to address the routeing problems in London imposed by Condition 5 of the London Lorry Ban, which requires trucks to use trunk roads or other exempt routes as much as possible.
"There is no reason for London to be used as a rat-run, but Condition 5 means operators can't use primary routes because some of those are restricted," says the FTA. "We've still got 60% of the strategic road network restricted."
Administering the ban costs £400,000 a year; the DOT wants this saving to be redirected into increased enforcement.