Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)

My Lords, I thank the noble Lords, Lord Pack and Lord Moylan, for their comments on this important area of work. Some of the points raised have come together from both noble Lords, if from slightly different angles, so perhaps they will forgive me if I cover them together. One of the major themes coming through was the concern about the devolved Administrations and divergence. Just to reiterate, the regulations apply in Great Britain only; to reinforce that, this policy area is devolved to Northern Ireland and the officials in the Department for Infrastructure there have been updated on the regulations. I want to reassure noble Lords that the department in Northern Ireland is currently considering the potential impact the introduction of this legislation may have on regulatory divergence between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is considering the impact of proposals that have been presented by the European Commission on drivers’ hours and tachograph requirements, which mirror the changes in these regulations—I think the noble Lord, Lord Moylan, picked up on some of the details around this. I can only repeat that decisions on changes in Northern Ireland will be for Northern Ireland Ministers. While officials in the DfT and Northern Ireland’s Department for Infrastructure are working together to manage the impact of these measures on GB operators for the change in vans that regularly travel to Northern Ireland, we want to minimise the impact on trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. In the meantime, drivers of 3.5 to 4.25 tonne zero-emission vans will need to ensure that their vehicle complies with the applicable law while operating in Northern Ireland, including ensuring that they are meeting testing requirements and that their vehicle is fitted with a tachograph. For further reassurance, I can inform noble Lords that the noble Baroness, Lady Anderson, speaks regularly to her counterpart in Northern Ireland to make sure that they are kept appraised of progress.