Draft Drivers' Hours, Tachographs, International Road Haulage and Licensing of Operators (Amendment) Regulations 2022

Michael Fabricant Excerpts

Tuesday 1st November 2022 General Committees

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Jesse Norman)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Drivers’ Hours, Tachographs, International Road Haulage and Licensing of Operators (Amendment) Regulations 2022.

It is a delight to see you in the Chair, Ms McVey.

The draft regulations will be made under the powers conferred by section 31 of the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020. They are to implement fully some of the international road transport provisions in the trade and cooperation agreement between the European Union and United Kingdom, which was entered into on 30 December 2020 and is known as the TCA. The regulations are mainly about drivers’ hours and tachograph rules for most commercial drivers of lorries and coaches, but also involve international haulage access to the UK.

Section 29 of the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020 provides a general implementation clause under which domestic law, including EU regulations retained as UK law, is, where necessary, interpreted in order to implement the TCA. On top of that, the changes being proposed by the statutory instrument will formalise the relevant TCA provisions into UK domestic law to provide legal clarity. That will also enable UK enforcement officers to enforce against EU commercial drivers in the scope of lorries and coaches operating in the UK.

The regulations amend in the first place the retained EU regulation (EC) 561/2006, which sets out driving time rules for commercial drivers. Secondly, they amend the retained EU regulation (EU) 165/2014, which sets out rules on the installation and use of the tachograph device, a recording device used for the enforcement of the driving time rules. Thirdly, the regulations amend the retain EU regulation (EC) 1072/2009, which sets out rules on cabotage movements. They also amend the domestic Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) (Temporary Use in Great Britain) Regulations 1996, which set out the rules for non-GB operators’ access to GB roads.

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

I notice that the explanatory memorandum states that the SI

“also removes some access rights for EU operators to reflect the market access in the TCA”

Can my right hon. Friend say what sort of rights are being removed from EU operators?