Draft Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Representations and Appeals) (England) Regulations 2022

Gill Furniss Excerpts

Wednesday 27th April 2022 General Committees

[Gill Furniss (Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairpersonship, Mr Robertson.

We understand the rationale behind the regulations and the others contained in the package of measures. We support greater powers for local authorities in enforcing moving traffic offences while also extending rights of appeal. We will therefore not oppose the regulations today.

There is widespread support from the industry and the public for these changes. Research by the RAC shows that 57% of drivers support allowing local authorities to enforce moving traffic offences. It is hoped that these new measures will have a tangible benefit when it comes to road safety and traffic flow. However, the Government have so much more work to do in improving our roads; I will come to that later.

We support extending greater rights to motorists outside London to appeal bus lane violations—indeed, that would bring regulation in line with that for other offences such as parking violations. As I have said, that support is shared by motorists. However, I would like to highlight some outstanding issues to the Minister.

I am aware of concerns raised regarding box junctions in particular. Of course, the vast majority of drivers want action to be taken against those deliberately blocking junctions and causing gridlock. However, the RAC has found that many box junctions across the country are not fit for purpose when it comes to benefiting traffic flow. Hence, there is concern that enforcing such yellow boxes could result in considerate drivers being fined unfairly. That could then have a knock-on effect on the appeals process and result in an already overstretched system being put under yet more pressure. I invite the Minister to offer reassurances to the industry and to drivers who are concerned about the enforcement of box junctions. 

In addition, it would be remiss of me not to highlight the additional pressures that could be placed on our local authorities. In my area, Sheffield City Council has had its spending power cut by almost a third of its total budget since 2010. I urge the Minister to ensure that the new duties do not place yet more burdens on our local authorities, whose budgets have been cut to the bone on the Government’s watch. Many new duties have already been highlighted by the Minister and it is disappointing that local authorities are unable to take part of the enforcement fines that they collect. That would have been helpful.

One of the biggest obstacles to road safety is poor road markings and a lack of sufficient maintenance. We now know that highway maintenance funding cuts seen over the last few years are here to stay. By 2025, the funding will have been cut by a third in real terms since 2020—yet more confirmation, if it were needed, that the Government are totally blind to the crisis on our roads.

In conclusion, we support the aims of ensuring a fair appeals process for motorists who have received a fixed penalty notice, and we will not oppose this statutory instrument. However, we also reiterate our calls for the Government to step up and fix the mess on our roads, which is causing havoc for so many motorists.