Highways (Financing) Bill (Fifth sitting)

Peter Prinsley Excerpts

Thursday 12th November 2026 Public Bill Committees

[Justin Madders]

We have a bit of a mega grouping here, so I will try to take the Committee through it slowly and carefully.

I will briefly talk about the provisions generally before I get into the detail. The provisions relate to the enforcement and non-payment of tolls. Government amendments 6 to 10 and clause 27 clarify the framework for unpaid tolls and penalty charges, including responsibility for notification and enforcement. Government amendments 11 to 13 and clause 28 strengthen the offences of deliberate evasion and unauthorised removal of penalty notices while protecting users from unauthorised toll collection. New clause 1 extends the framework to additional tolling-related penalty charges, with safeguards for notification and offences for fraudulent evasion.

Amendments 10, 8, 7 and 6 are fundamentally procedural. They reassign the regulation-making power for notification and enforcement from the Secretary of State to the Lord Chancellor. That is in line with standard practice and represents the appropriate designation of authority. Amendment 9 requires that regulations relating to the imposition of a penalty charge for non-payment of a toll must specify whether the penalty charge is intended to displace the toll due or is in addition to it. That will add clarity to the regime and avoid uncertainty for users.

Clause 27, as it will be amended, allows the Secretary of State to make regulations about penalty charges where a toll is not paid and for the Lord Chancellor to make regulations about the notification and enforcement of that penalty charge. Those regulations may allow the licence holder to issue penalty charges and set out how the penalty system will operate. That may include who must pay the penalty, how they will be notified, when and how payment must be made, and how unpaid penalties may be enforced.

The regulations may set the penalty rates directly or allow the ORR to set them within the framework established by the regulations. Different penalty rates may be set for different circumstances. The arrangements may also include reduced amounts for prompt payment, increased amounts for late payment and administration fees. If the Secretary of State proposes to set the penalty rates in the regulations, they must consult the ORR first.

[Dr Peter Prinsley (Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket) (Lab)]

Last night, we heard from the chief executive of Royal Mail about the terrible problems of huge delays in mail being delivered. It is sometimes the case that people are unable to pay a fine without incurring the additional fine for late payment because of the failure of Royal Mail to deliver the penalty charge in an appropriate time. What provision could be made to cope with that particular problem, which seems to be widespread in the country?

[Justin Madders]

We will come to that issue later in the Bill, so if my hon. Friend bears with me, I will address it then. In summary, clause 27 provides a clear framework for dealing with unpaid tolls, while ensuring that the detailed rules and penalty rates are set through regulations or by the ORR within that regulatory framework.

Amendments 11 and 12 extend the scope of the offences under clause 28(3) to cases where a person seeks to avoid payment of a penalty charge for non-payment of a toll, as well as to those seeking to avoid payment of the toll itself. It is plain to me that those offences, principally for fraudulently seeking to avoid payment, should apply equally in relation to a penalty charge as to a toll.

Amendment 13 creates a new offence within clause 28 for the unlawful removal of a penalty charge. This is standard in relation to the issuance of penalty charges and is principally there to discourage anyone other than the person for whom the charge is intended from removing the notice from the vehicle. That ensures that the intended recipient gets proper notice.

Clause 28, as it will be amended, deals with deliberate attempts to avoid paying tolls, as well as the unauthorised charging of tolls. It makes it an offence to deliberately interfere with tolling equipment or obscure a vehicle registration plate to avoid paying a toll or being identified for non-payment. It is also an offence to deliberately use false information or documents to seek to avoid payment of a toll or a penalty charge. Those offences can result in an unlimited fine, imprisonment or both.

The clause also sets out that it is an offence for anyone not authorised to do so to remove a notification of a penalty charge from a vehicle. That can attract a fine of up to £500. The clause also protects road users by making it an offence to charge or collect tolls without complying with the Bill’s requirements, or without being authorised to do so. That can attract a fine of up to £1,000. A person carrying out tolling functions on behalf of the licence holder under clause 31 is not caught by that restriction. Clause 28 therefore provides sanctions against deliberate toll and penalty charge evasion, while also protecting road users from unauthorised toll collection.

Government new clause 1 gives regulation-making powers to the Secretary of State and the Lord Chancellor to make regulations about the imposition and enforcement of penalty charges related to a specified list of additional matters related to tolling. The list includes matters such as the release of a vehicle from an immobilisation device and, where certain equipment or documentation is required as part of a tolling scheme, a failure to carry them. Those are charges that the holder of a licence could conceivably need to levy, but they would be conferred only as needed. As is the case for penalty charges related to non-payment of tolls, the clause would allow for the rates to be set either by the Secretary of State or by the Office of Rail and Road as the independent regulator.

As with the other penalty charges in the Bill, the new clause includes two offences. First, it is an offence to make false representations, including by using a false document, with intent to avoid paying a penalty charge or being identified as having failed to pay one. On summary conviction, that carries imprisonment up to the maximum term for summary offences, a fine or both. Mere non-payment is not itself the offence; an unpaid charge is recoverable as a civil debt.

Secondly, it is an offence to remove a penalty charge notice fixed to a vehicle unless the person is its registered keeper, is using it with the keeper’s authority, or acts with the authority of either such person or the licence holder. That protects proper notification while allowing authorised removal. On summary conviction, the offence carries a fine not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale. I commend these provisions to the Committee, and will respond to the shadow Minister’s amendments in closing.