Vol. 411 No. 8
120 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications if he has any proposals to increase the fines for those operating without a haulage licence on the roads under the Road Transport Act 1986; if he will make such fines mandatory as arising out of a number of recent convictions they are very low; and if he will make a full statement on the matter.
I am having a review carried out at present in my Department of the adequacy of existing legislation in the area of road haulage. The level of fines for the offence of operating without a haulage licence is being examined in that context. The existing maximum fine of £1,000 on summary conviction is a not inconsiderable penalty, but as the Deputy has pointed out the actual fines imposed by the courts in a number of recent cases have been very low. The question of providing for mandatory fines will be considered in the context of the review.
