HGV Driving Tests

Debate between Lord Foulkes of Cumnock and Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

Wednesday 1st December 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen (Con)]

But the noble Lord makes an important point. The reversing exercise is one of the common reasons for failure in most of the tests; taking and passing this part of the test with an assessor from the driver’s training school will speed up this element of the test without compromising safety. The Government have announced 32 measures to tackle the driver shortage and bolster supply chains in the UK. However, we are not taking away safety, and we hope that the fact that the test will still be done, even if it is by the training school, means that it will be safe.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, I am glad that I did not ask the question about reversing. I follow up the excellent question from the noble Lord, Lord Kirkhope, about facilities. Has the Minister ever been to France? In France, they do not just have service areas but “aires” where heavy good vehicles can stop or park, with toilets and places where the drivers can wash, and they are all the way down every motorway and main road. If the French can do it, why cannot we?

[Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen (Con)]

I agree; anything the French can do, we can definitely do better.

[Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen (Con)]

We are heading into the ridiculous now, are we not? I answered that question when I answered my noble friend Lord Kirkhope. I could not agree more; this is very important and vital. If we do not do this, we will not get the drivers to drive our HGV lorries, and we are working on this. As I said, it can be done, because one in Kent has just opened.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

One.

[Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen (Con)]

Yes, I know; we need to go right across the country, and we will do so.

UK: System of Government

Debate between Lord Foulkes of Cumnock and Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen

Tuesday 21st January 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen (Con)]

My Lords, the UK Government believe strongly in upholding the constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is the most successful political and economic union in history. Together, we are safer, stronger and more prosperous.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

I agree with the Minister, but would she and the Government consider turning the commission that was included in the Conservative Party manifesto into a UK constitutional convention to look at the federal and other options and to address the English democratic deficit? With the growing clamour for Scottish independence and Irish unification, the Government could otherwise end up not just with us leaving the European Union but with the break-up of the United Kingdom.

[Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen]

I thank the noble Lord very much for chatting to me last week about this Question. Apart from the obvious practical difficulties, there is no guarantee that moving to a federal system would ensure that the union remained intact. We believe that our focus should be on working for the whole of our great country, to open up opportunities for people across our union and to unleash the productive power of every corner of the United Kingdom. I think my noble friend Lord Howe said everything that was to be said about the commission, but I am sure, as happened last week, that the department will listen to what is said in this Chamber, including what the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes, has said.