26 APRIL 2006
Those present: David Hurley (in the chair); Jacqueline Bickerstaff; John Billard; Andrew Burt; David Davies; Sandy Hamilton; Peter Mead; Rosy Pugh, Geoff Smith, Jim Whyman (secretary).
Apologies for absence: Peter Henley and Matt Vincent.
The meeting welcomed John Billard to his first meeting of the Legislation Committee.
1. Minutes of the meeting of 22 February 2006
The minutes of the meeting of 22 February were signed as accurate.
2. Matters arising
None.
3. UK Legislative Matters
A. Post consultation position reports:
a. Measures to enforce insurance “from the record” No further news.
b. Improving access to public transport for the disabled David Hurley said he was still awaiting written comments from relevant charities catering for the disabled to support FBHVC’s view that operators of services using preserved historic vehicles should not be required to comply with wheel-chair access regulations. He had had further contact with the civil servant concerned and would be drafting a letter outlining FBHVC’s position in the light both of his conversation with the civil servant and of feedback from heritage transport operators in London. DH
c. Transposing EU Directive 2004/42/CE (VOC) into UK law No further news.
d. MoT testing for fire engines David Hurley said he and representatives from the Fire Service Preservation Group and the Historic Commercial Vehicle Society had met VOSA and DVLA officials at Swansea on 25 April to discuss the problems arising from the limitation of VED and Testing and Plating concessions for fire appliances to those “used solely” for the purposes of fire and salvage, meaning that most fire appliances would now have to be taxed as Private Heavy Goods and tested accordingly. There was little objection to the principle that fire appliances should be tested, but the existing testing regime was unable to cater for such machines due to the requirement that elements of the test had to be under maximum load, but fitted equipment was not considered load. The meeting had agreed that FSPG and FBHVC to set up a working group to look at the anomalies and recommend a solution. David Hurley said he would be preparing notes of the previous day’s meeting and would circulate them. DH
e. Waste framework directive No further news.
f. Compulsory seat belt requirements for children On 10 April, the Department for Transport had published an update on proposals to amend the regulations governing the requirements for seat belts for children together with a summary of responses to the consultation of 2005. The update stated that new regulations would be introduced for implementation in September and would follow the “minimum” compliance approach predicted by the consultation. The main effect would be to ban children under three from travelling unrestrained in any vehicle. Carriage of children 3 to 11 and under 1.35 metres tall would also be affected – they would have to travel in the rear of any vehicle not fitted with seat belts, but if seat belts were present, the correct child restraint would have to be used.
…/2
- 2 -3. UK Legislative Matters (contd)
g. Testing requirements for new drivers of large vehicles No further news.
h. Operator Licensing consultation David Hurley said he had submitted a response to the consultation highlighting the unfair nature of the proposal that the cost of the operator licensing system should be incorporated into the annual plating and testing fee. It was too early to have had any feedback, although David did comment that VOSA had identified key areas for checking on documentation to make it possible to distinguish between privately owned/operated vehicles and those for which operator licensing was needed.
j. release of vehicle data from the record Sandy Hamilton confirmed that a response to the consultation had been submitted in line with the discussion at the last meeting.
k. low emission zone proposals for London David Hurley explained that the LEZ proposal had targeted diesel engined heavy commercial vehicles – light vehicles had been excluded. A concession had been proposed for “heritage” commercial vehicles, but this had been linked specifically to the historic vehicle taxation class which effectively precluded preserved historic vehicles that were still in occasional commercial use for heritage services as well as the youngest preserved historics made after 1972. David said he had undertaken a survey of operators of “heritage” services in and around London before making a response urging that the concession should apply to any vehicle over 25 years old, irrespective of taxation class.
B. Current consultations
a. Highway Code The secretary had prepared a draft response to the consultation on proposals to revise the Highway Code. He commented that he had divided comments into two sections, one dealing with matters relating to older vehicles and the other with more general issues. He said he was not sure if it was appropriate for FBHVC should comment on non-historic vehicle related matters, but the meeting reviewed the draft and agreed that all comments were worthwhile. John Billard felt that more emphasis could usefully be placed on the possibility of there being vehicles ahead that could be travelling so slowly as to be effectively stationary. David Hurley agreed, remarking that rear collisions had become a serious problem for waste collection vehicles. David also said that he was keen to make further remarks in respect of procedures at roundabouts. He asked those present to let the secretary have any further comments within a week of the meeting so he could finalise the response in time for the 10 May deadline. JW
b. implementing EU Directive on sulphur free road fuel David Hurley said he would discuss this matter with Matt Vincent, but did not think there was any scope for FBHVC input. DH
c. proposed changes to the on-road and off-road motor event regulations The Department for Transport was consulting on proposals to consolidate the separate regulations for on-road and off-road events into one set of regulations and at the same time was considering adjusting the existing provisions to provide greater flexibility in application periods, lists of specified events (that were permitted both larger numbers of participants and an extended application period) and in the appointment of “authorising” bodies.
The meeting considered whether FBHVC should seek to become an authorising body – there would be a clear benefit to FBHVC’s standing if it were to do so, but the result would be a considerable amount of additional work producing a code of practice, dealing with paperwork and monitoring events to ensure compliance with the code. It was noted that the National Traction Engine Trust was an authorising body under the current regulations and John Billard said he would do a brief report on how NTET handles its responsibilities. It was agreed the secretary should prepare a draft response to the consultation for circulation in good time prior to 20 June. JBld; JWd. any other new consultation None.
C. Other Matters
a. occasional sales No further news.
b. insurance concerns in respect of MSA cover for events The secretary reported that David Hurley, Andrew Burt and he had had a meeting with John Symes at MSA immediately prior to the last committee meeting. John had given the impression that there was little that could be done to ensure that MSA insurance for events was sufficient to provide cover to the standard required by law for competition vehicles when they were being driven in areas open to the public at motor sporting venues. Subsequently, John had written to say that MSA’s insurers had agreed that where necessary they would extend cover to comply with legal requirements. John had provided a notice to that effect for inclusion in the newsletter. JW
…/3
- 3 -
3. UK Legislative Matters (contd)
c. use of red diesel/TVO in tractors The secretary said he had been in correspondence with HM Revenue and Customs over the anomaly in regulations that makes it impossible to use TVO (or its home-made equivalent) in a tractor if that tractor is licensed for road use. His submission seemed to have been well received, he had answered a request to provide some statistical evidence to show likely usage patterns and was hopeful of a satisfactory resolution. JW
d. other matters None.
4. All Party Parliamentary Historic Vehicle Group
The most recent meeting with APPHVG had taken place on 15 March and had been reported at the 21 March meeting of the full committee.
5. European Report
David Davies said there would be a FIVA Legislation Commission meeting in Luxembourg in May. The EU commission had published the latest proposals for re-casting the Driving Licence Directive: the proposals in respect of weight limits for towing trailers had been as expected, but there had been no movement on the draconian proposals for motor cycle licences.
Three European documents had been received via FIVA’s lobbying service, EPPA – these were “CARS 21”; a consultation on fitting blind-spot mirrors on existing trucks and a consultation on road infrastructure safety management on trans-European networks.
CARS 21 – “Competitive Automotive Regulatory System for the 21st century” – was a report of recommendations to enhance the “industry’s global competitiveness and employment whilst sustaining further progress in safety and environmental performance at a price affordable to the consumer.” As such, it was not of direct concern to the historic vehicle movement, but it was important because it showed the direction in which vehicle related legislation was likely to go. The blind-spot mirror issue was not of concern as it related only to vehicles first put into service since 1998. The infrastructure paper was not deemed to be of significance for historic vehicles.
6. DVLA
Sandy Hamilton reported on a liaison meeting at DVLA at the end of March – he, David Hurley and the secretary had attended. As usual, the meeting had been well worthwhile and had covered a long agenda with issues ranging from general matters of principle to individual cases. The current BS series of age related numbers being issued to pre-1930 vehicles was expected to end shortly, and the only other series where a significant range of numbers might still be available was likely to be the BF series, of which very few were issued by Dorset CC in 1904.
7. Implementation of measures in Vision 2005-10
No discussion.
8. Other matters None.
9. May/June Newsletter
The secretary reminded the meeting that the deadline for the next newsletter was 10 May. Topics would include the latest position on consultations; reports on Drive It Day; MSA insurance; preliminary notice for the AGM.
………………………………………………Chairman Jim Whyman, Secretary