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Motor Vehicles (Wearing of Seat Belts) (Amendment) Regulations 2006

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his explanation of this important order. I am happy to say that we on these Benches support the general thrust of the legislation and what it seeks to do. Anything that attempts to cut the numbers of those killed and injured while not wearing a seat belt, particularly children, should be applauded, and I congratulate the Government on that. Indeed, to put the issue into context, in my own county of Essex of the 53 drivers or passengers killed in accidents over the past year, 14—26 per cent—were not wearing a seat belt. That kind of statistic is repeated across the country and it is growing, which is a worry. As I mentioned, we support in principle what is set out here. Our concerns turn on its implementation where we have a number of serious reservations about how it is to work in practice. Many of the questions that I would like to put to the Minister today are similar to those put forward by my honourable friend the Member for North Shropshire when this legislation was discussed in the other place. There appears to be some confusion surrounding the status of this legislation regarding the involvement of coach and bus operators, specifically in making them responsible for ensuring that children aged under 14 are wearing seat belts. Indeed, no practical way has been identified to enforce this requirement. The Merits Committee, to which the Minister has referred, also raised this as a concern and suggested that the Government should have tried harder to obtain a clear form of words in the directive. Indeed, during the debate in the other place, the Minister of State for Transport said that it would be necessary to re-consult on this aspect—the Minister in this House has also referred to that. However, it is strange that we are considering legislation that to all intents and purposes is very far from being the finished item. Of particular concern is the exemption for normal bus services, yet the inclusion in the scheme of scheduled bus and coach services such as those taking children to and from school. Who is to pay for the additional equipment required under the order? Will the school bus operators have to resort to local education authority funds for such a requirement—not that that local authority will have any funds anyway? But presumably if these costs are to be borne solely by coach operators, the expense may well push up their costs to such an extent that some of the smaller operators are forced out of the market, with serious consequences for the provision of school transport. A further point that was made in the other place is how bus and coach operators will enforce such a scheme when other legislation strictly forbids them from touching children. A coach driver could not, therefore, physically place a child on a booster seat or strap them into a seat belt. The other major issue, of course, is enforcement. The Minister of State in the other place mentioned that he did not envisage police peering into moving cars or measuring individual children to see whether they were over a certain height as specified in the regulations. Those comments appear to be a very public acknowledgement—and, indeed, a tacit agreement—that effective enforcement of this legislation is simply not possible. He also mentioned that there would be instances when the necessary equipment was not fitted to a car for all occupants to satisfy the terms of the legislation. For example, an adult on the school run may be required, at short notice, to pick up more children but may not have the necessary booster seat in place. The noble Lord, Lord Davies, mentioned that you could not leave a child without transport. The Minister in the other place also said that it would be a good idea for the police to hang around the school gates at closing to give a clear message of what parents are expected to do. There are over 25,000 schools in this country. Was he seriously suggesting that, come four o’clock each day, the police forces around the country would send out a uniformed presence to every school gate, armed with a copy of these regulations and a tape measure? That, of course, would be an absurd proposition. However, I raise it simply to try to get across the difficulties involved in enforcing this legislation. We appear to be running the risk of signing off legislation that is virtually unenforceable. I do not have to tell your Lordships’ House of the very real dangers that such a step entails. The point was also made about how a parent will expect and encourage a child who may be small for his or her age to go back to sitting on a booster seat. I suspect that no one in the department considered the impact of child and adolescent psychology when drawing up the legislation. Some poor children are obviously very conscious of, and worried about, that. It might sound a frivolous point, but we can all see that it has the potential to cause some serious disputes. It seems that if this scheme is to work, the public will, as with other new legislation, need to be informed of it through an effective educational and communications strategy and well in advance of its commencement. It is worrying that these regulations could come into force in a matter of weeks and yet the vast majority of people out there will have absolutely no knowledge of these new laws. Have the Government taken on board this worry? Perhaps the Minister will explain how they will be communicating these new laws to the people who will be affected by them. Finally, I would welcome an explanation from the Minister as to how much this is likely to cost, both to the individual with, say, three small children and more generally. I can see the danger that a family on a low income who can only just afford to run a car could be adversely affected to the point where they simply would not bother to comply with the law at all. Indeed, we could well be looking at a situation where the cost of buying two or three booster seats, which could run into several hundred pounds, would be more than the cost of the vehicle. As I said at the start of my comments, we very much support the thrust of this legislation. Any measure that can improve child safety and save lives is very important. But we are loath to pass legislation which appears to be incomplete and in need of further attention and, more important, which appears to be unenforceable. I would therefore welcome any assurance that the Minister can provide on the concerns that I have outlined today.