Vehicle and Driving Licences Act 1969

and to be authenticated by a person authorised in that behalf by the Minister or, in the case of records maintained by a local authority, by the authority shall be admissible in any proceedings as evidence of any fact stated therein to the same extent as oral evidence of that fact is admissible in those proceedings.

• (2) In subsection (1) of this section " document " and " statement " have the same meanings as in subsection (1) of section 10 of the Civil Evidence Act 1968, and the reference to a copy of a document shall be construed in accordance with subsection (2) of that section; but nothing in this subsection shall be construed as limiting to civil proceedings the references to proceedings in subsection (1) of this section.

• (3) Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this section shall enable evidence to be given with respect to any matter other than a matter of the prescribed description.

• (4) In its application to Scotland this section shall have effect as if—

• (a) in subsection (1), for the words from " as evidence " onwards there were substituted the words " as sufficient evidence of any fact stated therein, so however that nothing in this subsection shall be deemed to make such a statement evidence in any proceedings except where oral evidence to the like effect would have been admissible in those proceedings "; and

• (b) in subsection (2), for the references to subsections (1) and (2) of section 10 of the Civil Evidence Act 1968 there were substituted references to subsections (3) and (4) respectively of section 17 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1968.

Alteration of penalties and offences and the application of sums under 1962 c. 13 ss. 17, 18 and 21 etc.

28

• (1) In section 17(1) and (2) of the Act of 1962 (under which a fine of £50 or imprisonment for six months may be imposed on summary conviction for offences under those subsections) for the words from " fifty pounds " onwards there shall be substituted the words " two hundred pounds or on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years ".

• (2) The said section 17(1) and (2) shall have effect subject to the following further amendments, that is to say—

• (a) in subsection (1)(b) for the word " book " there shall be substituted the word " document ";

• (b) in subsection (2)(a) (which penalises a false declaration in connection with an application for a licence under the Act of 1962 for a vehicle) the reference to such an application shall include a reference to an application for an allocation in pursuance of section 6 or section 20 of this Act; and

• (c) in subsection (2)(b) (which penalises the furnishing of false particulars in connection with a change of registration of a vehicle) the reference to the Act of 1962 shall be construed as including a reference to this Act and for the words " in connection with a change of registration " there shall be substituted the words " relating to, or to the keeper ".

• (3) For section 17(3) of the Act of 1962 (under which a fine of £20 may be imposed for any infringement of regulations under that Act) there shall be substituted the following subsection:—

(3) Regulations under this Act may provide that a person who contravenes or fails to comply with any specified provision of the regulations shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine of an amount not exceeding— (a) in the case of a contravention or failure to comply with requirements imposed in pursuance of section 16(a) of this Act, fifty pounds ; (b) in any other case, twenty pounds.

• (4) In section 18 of the Act of 1962 (under which information may be required as to the identity of persons alleged to be concerned in an offence under section 7 or section 12(9) of that Act)—

• (a) after the words " section seven " in subsections (1) and (2)(a) there shall be inserted the words " subsection (4) of section ten ";

• (b) for the word " owner" in subsection (1)(a) there shall be substituted the words " person keeping "; and

• (c) in subsection (3) for the words " twenty pounds " there shall be substituted the words " fifty pounds ";

and in section 12(8) of the Finance Act 1967 (under which information may be required as to the identity of the keeper of a vehicle alleged to have been used in contravention of the said section 7) for the words " twenty pounds " there shall be substituted the words " fifty pounds ".

• (5) Nothing in any of the foregoing provisions of this section shall apply to an offence committed before that provision comes into force.

• (6) In section 21 of the Act of 1962 (which provides for the application of fines imposed and penalties recovered by virtue of that Act), the references to that Act shall include references to this Act, excluding sections 14 and 22; and in section 21(2) of the Act of 1962, after the word " and" where it first occurs there shall be inserted the words " penalties and ".

Defence to charge of using or keeping vehicle where new licence pending

29

• (1) In any proceedings for an offence under section 7 or section 8(3) of the Act of 1962 of using or keeping at any time on a public road a mechanically propelled vehicle for which no licence was then in force or, as the case may be, without a current licence being then fixed to and exhibited on the vehicle, it shall be a defence to prove that—

• (a) while an expired licence for the vehicle was in force an application was duly made for a further licence for the vehicle to take effect from or before the expiration of the expired licence and for a period including the time in question; and

• (b) the expired licence was at that time fixed to and exhibited on the vehicle in the manner prescribed in pursuance of the said section 8(3); and

• (c) the period between the expiration of the expired licence and that time did not exceed fourteen days.

• (2) In subsection (1) of this section " licence " means a vehicle licence other than a trade licence, and for the purposes of paragraph (a) of that subsection an application for a further licence is made when the application is received by the Minister.

• (3) Accordingly, in subsection (1) of section 21 of the Civic Amenities Act 1967 (which relates to the disposal of abandoned vehicles)—

• (a) any reference in paragraphs (a) and (b) to a current licence shall be construed as including a reference to a licence which was current during any part of the period of fourteen days ending with the day preceding that on which the removal of the vehicle in question took place; and

• (b) the reference in paragraph (b) to the expiration of a licence shall be construed as a reference to the expiration of the period of fourteen days beginning with the day following that on which the licence expired,

and for the purposes of paragraph (c) of that subsection an expired licence shall be treated as still in force during the period of fourteen days beginning with the day following that on which it expired, and the reference in that paragraph to the expiration of the licence shall be construed accordingly.

Fixing of amount payable under 1967 c. 54 s. 12 on plea of guilty by absent accused

30

Where in pursuance of section 1(2) of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1957 a person is convicted in his absence of an offence under section 7 of the Act of 1962 (which penalises the using or keeping of an unlicensed vehicle) and it is proved to the satisfaction of the court, on oath or in the manner prescribed by rules made under section 15 of the Justices of the Peace Act 1949, that there was served on the accused with the summons a notice stating that, in the event of his being convicted of the offence, it will be alleged that an order requiring him to pay an amount specified in the notice falls to be made by the court in pursuance of subsection (1) of section 12 of the Finance Act 1967 (under which an amount related to the period during which a vehicle was unlicensed is required to be paid by the keeper of the vehicle who is convicted of using it during that period) then, unless in the notification purporting to be given by or on behalf of the accused in pursuance of the said section 1(2) it is stated that the amount so specified is inappropriate, the court shall proceed in pursuance of the said subsection (1) as if that amount had been calculated as required by that subsection.

Jurisdiction under 1960 c. 16 s. 103

31

It is hereby declared that, without prejudice to section 99(3) of the Act of 1960 (under which a magistrates' court or the sheriff may, on the application of a person who has taken a test of competence to drive, determine that the test was improperly carried out and authorise the applicant to take a further test without payment), in any proceedings under section 103 of that Act (which among other things provides for an appeal against the refusal or revocation of a driving licence) the court or sheriff is not entitled to entertain any question as to whether the appellant passed such a test if he was declared by the person who conducted it to have failed it.

Offences under this Act

32

A person guilty of an offence under this Act shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of an amount not exceeding—

• (a) in the case of an offence under section 7(2), 8(4), 12(2) or 22 or regulations made in pursuance of section 19 of this Act, fifty pounds ;

• (b) in any other case, twenty pounds.

Supplemental

Interpretation

33

• (1) In this Act the following expressions have the following meanings unless the contrary intention appears, that is to say—

• " the Act of 1960 " means the Road Traffic Act 1960 ;

• " the Act of 1962 " means the Vehicles (Excise) Act 1962 ;

• " local authority " means the council of a county, the Greater London Council, the council of a county borough and the council of a burgh within the meaning of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 containing a population, according to the census for the time being last taken, of or exceeding fifty thousand, and for the purposes of this definition every other burgh shall be deemed to form part of the county in which it is situated;

• " the Minister " means the Minister of Transport;

• " motor dealer " means a person carrying on the business of selling or supplying mechanically propelled vehicles ;

• " prescribed " means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister;

• " public road ", " trade licence " and " general trade licence " have the same meanings as in the Act of 1962;

• " relevant functions " and " the transfer date " have the meanings assigned to them by section 1(2) of this Act;

• " seven day licence " means a licence for which provision is made by section 2(1)(d) of the Act of 1962 ;

• " temporary licence " has the meaning assigned to it by section 5(1) of this Act; and

• " vehicle licence " means a licence under the Act of 1962.

• (2) Unless the contrary intention appears, any reference in this Act to any enactment is a reference to it as amended by or under any other enactment including this Act.

Orders and regulations

34

• (1) Any power to make orders or regulations conferred on the Minister by this Act shall be exercisable by statutory instrument; and any statutory instrument made by virtue of this Act shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

• (2) Any order under this Act made by the Minister and any regulations so made under this Act, Part II of the Act of 1960 or the Act of 1962 may—

• (a) make different provision for different circumstances ;

• (b) provide for exemptions from any provisions of the order or regulations ; and

• (c) contain such incidental and supplemental provisions as the Minister considers expedient for the purposes of the order or regulations,

and nothing in any other provision of this Act or those enactments shall be construed as prejudicing the generality of the foregoing provisions of this subsection.

• (3) Any power to make an order or regulations which is exercisable by the Minister by virtue of this Act includes power to provide by the order or regulations that any document for which provision is made by the order or regulations shall be in such form and contain such particulars as may be specified by a person specified in the order or regulations.

• (4) An order made by the Minister under any provision of this Act (except an order under section 2(1) in so far as the order transfers any property, rights or liabilities, an order appointing the transfer date and an order under section 38(2) of this Act) may be revoked or varied by a subsequent order under that provision.

• (5) In section 23(1) of the Act of 1962 (which among other things confers power to make regulations for the purpose of carrying that Act into effect), the second reference to that Act and the reference to any other provision of that Act shall be construed as including a reference to this Act, except so far as it relates to driving licences and test certificates and except section 27.

Service of notices

35

A notice authorised to be served on any person by section 100 or section 102(2) of the Act of 1960 or section 21(2) or section 22(6) of this Act may be served on him by delivering it to him or by leaving it at his proper address or by sending it to him by post; and for the purposes of this section and section 26 of the Interpretation Act 1889 in its application to this section the proper address of any person shall be his latest address as known to the person giving the notice.

Financial provisions

36

• (1) There shall be defrayed out of moneys provided by Parliament—

• (a) any expenses incurred by the Minister by virtue of this Act; and

• (b) any increase attributable to the provisions of this Act in the sums payable under any other enactment out of moneys so provided.

• (2) Any sums received by the Minister by virtue of this Act by way of fees shall be paid into the Consolidated Fund.

Repeals

37

The enactments mentioned in the first and second columns of Schedule 3 to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule.

Short title, commencement and extent

38

• (1) This Act may be cited as the Vehicle and Driving Licences Act 1969.

• (2) This Act shall come into force on such day as the Minister may by order appoint; and different days may be appointed under this subsection for different provisions of this Act, or for different provisions of this Act so far as they apply to such cases only as may be specified in the order.

• (3) This Act does not extend to Northern Ireland.

SCHEDULE 1

PART I — Amendments consequential on s 1

The Road Traffic Act 1960

1

At the end of section 115 of the Act of 1960 there shall be inserted the following subsection:—

(2) For the purposes of this Part of this Act the licensing authority is— (a) on and after the transfer date within the meaning of the Vehicle and Driving Licences Act 1969, the Minister; and (b) before that date, the relevant council specified in section 101(1) of this Act as in force immediately before the coming into force of section 14 of that Act,

and accordingly the said section 115 as originally enacted shall be subsection (1) of that section.

2

Any reference in Part II of the Act of 1960 to a licensing authority shall be construed as a reference to the licensing authority.

3

The following provisions of the Act of 1960 shall cease to have effect, that is to say—

• in section 109(3) the words from " to be granted" to " was granted)" ;

• in section 112(1) the words from "by which the" to "resides" and the words " by which it was granted ", and in section 112(2) the words from "in whose area " onwards ;

• in section 113, paragraphs (b) and (c);

• in section 114(1) the words from "in the same manner" onwards.

The Vehicles (Excise) Act 1962

4

Subject to paragraphs 5 and 8 below, for any reference in the Act of 1962 to a county council within the meaning of that Act there shall be substituted a reference to the Minister.

5

In section 5(2) of the Act of 1962, for the words from " and of any " to " their county " there shall be substituted the words " the Minister and his officers (including any body or person authorised by the Minister to act as his agent for the purposes of this Act) shall have ".

6

In section 13(1) of the Act of 1962, for the words "the prescribed manner " there shall be substituted the words " such manner as the Minister thinks fit. "

7

At the end of section 19(2) of the Act of 1962 there shall be inserted the words " and section 287 of that Act (which relates to the application of penalties) shall not apply to penalties recovered under or in pursuance of this Act ".

8

The following provisions of the Act of 1962 shall cease to have effect, that is to say—

• in section 5(1) the words from " in accordance " onwards, in section 5(3) the words from " and subject" to " this section ", in section 5(4) the words from " in such manner " onwards, and section 5(5) and (6);

• in section 6(6) the words " if authorised so to do by the Minister " ;

• in section 9(1) the words from " with which " onwards;

• in section 11(1), paragraph (a);

• in section 12(1) the words " in which his business premises are situated " and section 12(7) and (8);

• in section 13(1) the words "issuing the licence" and "and the council which has registered it" ;

• in section 21(2) the words from " in such manner " onwards;

• sections 22, 23(4) and 24(5) and in section 24(1) the definition of " county " (including the provision relating to references to the council of a county).

The Local Government Act 1966

9

In section 33 of the Local Government Act 1966 the reference to the functions relating to highways shall include a reference to the relevant functions, and any reference in that section to a council or the Minister within the meaning of that section shall respectively be construed, in relation to the relevant functions, as a reference to a local authority or the Minister within the meaning of this Act.

The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1966

10

In section 35 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1966—

• (a) in subsection (1), after the words " A local authority " there shall be inserted the words " within the meaning of section 113(1) of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1947 ";

• (b) after subsection (1) there shall be inserted the following subsection:—

(1A) A local authority within the meaning of section 33 of the Vehicle and Driving Licences Act 1969 may enter into an agreement with the Minister of Transport for the placing at his disposal, for the purpose of any of the relevant functions within the meaning of the said Act of 1969, on such terms as may be provided by the agreement, of the services of persons employed by the local authority and of any premises, equipment and other facilities under their control.;

• (c) in subsection (2), after the words " Secretary of State " there shall be inserted the words " or the Minister of Transport ";

• (d) in subsection (3) the words from "' local authority'" to " and " in the second place where it occurs shall cease to have effect.

The Finance Act 1967

11

For the references to a county council in section 12(2)(a) and (8) of the Finance Act 1967 there shall be substituted references to the Minister.

The Criminal Justice Act 1967

12

In section 56(10) of the Criminal Justice Act 1967, for paragraphs (a) and (b) there shall be substituted the words " send notice of the order to the Minister of Transport ", and for the words from " any such" onwards there shall be substituted the words " the Minister of Transport ".

PART II — Amendments consequential on s.4

The Vehicles (Excise) Act 1962

13

The following provisions of the Act of 1962 shall cease to have effect, that is to say—

• section 2(1)(a), and in section 2(1)(b) and (c) the words from " running " onwards;

• in section 2(2)(a) the words "one calendar year or" and " other ";

• section 12(4).

14

In section 10(3) of the Act of 1962 for the word " months " in both places there shall be substituted the word " days " and for the words from " any " onwards there shall be substituted the words " that period being treated as 365 days in the case of a licence for twelve months and 120 days in the case of a licence for four months ".

15

In section 12(5) of the Act of 1962 for the words " calendar year" there shall be substituted the words " period of twelve months " and for the words " three months shall be eleven fortieths " there shall be substituted the words " four months shall be eleven thirtieths ".

The Finance Act 1967

16

In section 12(2) of the Finance Act 1967, for the words " one twelfth " there shall be substituted the words " one three-hundred-and-sixty-fifth ", for the words " calendar month or part of a calendar month " there shall be substituted the word " day " and for the words " calendar month immediately following that in " there shall be substituted the words " day following that on ".

17

In section 12(3) and (4) of the Finance Act 1967, for the words "month or part of a month" and the words "month or part" wherever else they occur there shall be substituted the word " day ".

18

In section 12(4) of the Finance Act 1967, for the words " at the beginning of " there shall be substituted the word " on ".

SCHEDULE 2

1

Section 99(4) (under which the requirements as to tests imposed by subsection (1) of that section may be dispensed with for persons not resident in Great Britain) shall cease to have effect; but the repeal of section 99(4) by this Act, shall not affect—

• (a) a licence granted by virtue of section 99(4) before the repeal takes effect; or

• (b) the references in section 99(1) to licences granted by virtue of section 99(4) or of a provision for the time being corresponding thereto.

2

For subsection (5) of section 99 (which provides that certain tests of competence are sufficient to authorise the granting of a driving licence) there shall be substituted the following subsection:—

(5) For the purposes of paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this section a test of competence shall be sufficient for the granting of a licence authorising die driving of— (a) vehicles of any class or description, if at the time the test was passed (whether before or after the passing of this Act) it authorised the granting of a licence to drive vehicles of that class or description ; (b) vehicles of any classes or descriptions which are designated by regulations as a group for the purposes of the said paragraph (a), if at the said time the test authorised the granting of a licence to drive vehicles of any class or description included in the group ; and if vehicles of any classes or descriptions are designated by regulations as a group for the purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section, a licence authorising the driving of vehicles of a class or description included in the group shall be deemed for the purposes of the said paragraph (b) to authorise the driving of vehicles of all classes or descriptions included in the group. The last foregoing reference to a licence and the first reference to a licence in the said paragraph (b) do not include a licence which has been revoked in pursuance of section 102(2) of this Act.

3

In section 110 (which among other things penalises a person who applies for or obtains a licence while he is disqualified for holding or obtaining it) the words " applies for or " in paragraph (a) shall cease to have effect.

4

In section 112(1) (which requires the licence of a disqualified person to be retained by the licensing authority until the disqualification expires or is removed and he demands the return of the licence) for the words from " shall keep " onwards there shall be substituted the words " may dispose of it as the authority think fit; but where the disqualification expires or is removed before the expiration of the period for which the licence was granted and the person to whom it was granted makes to the authority during that period, in such form and containing such particulars supported by such evidence or further evidence as the Minister may specify, a demand for the grant of a new licence for the period for which the licence aforesaid was granted, the authority shall comply with the demand " , and in section 112(3) the words from " on the return " to " him or " shall cease to have effect.

5

In section 115, in the definition of "provisional licence", for the words " section one hundred and two " there shall be substituted the words " section 101(2) ".

6

In section 225(1)(d) and section 226(2) (under which a constable may require a person to produce his licence for examination or to state his name and address if he is accompanying or has accompanied a person driving a vehicle under a provisional licence) for the words " accompanies " and " to have accompanied " there shall be substituted respectively the words " supervises " and " was supervising ".

7

In section 225(2) (which enables a constable to seize a licence which is not delivered up as required by section 100(6) of the Act of 1960) for the words " subsection (6) of section one hundred thereof " there shall be substituted the words " section 100 or section 102 of this Act " and for the words " for cancellation as required by that subsection " there shall be substituted the words " in pursuance of that section " , and the words " for cancellation " in the second place where they occur shall cease to have effect.

8

In section 232(2)(a) (under which the owner of a vehicle may be required to identify the driver of it who is alleged to have committed an offence to which that section applies) for the words " owner of " there shall be substituted the words " person keeping ".

9

At the end of section 233(1) (which specifies the documents of which, among other things, the forgery or misuse is an offence under that section) there shall be inserted the following paragraph:—

(h) any document which, in pursuance of section 99(2) of this Act or section 20(1) of the Road Safety Act 1967, is issued as evidence of the result of a test of competence to drive.

10

In section 241(2)(c)(ii) and (4)(a) (which among other things relate to the service of a notice on the owner of a vehicle) for the word " owner " there shall be substituted the word " keeper ".

11

In section 244 (which specifies the time for beginning summary proceedings for certain offences), for the words from " from " where it first occurs onwards there shall be substituted the words " from the date on which evidence sufficient in the opinion of the prosecutor to warrant the proceedings came to his knowledge ; but no such proceedings shall be brought by virtue of this section more than three years after the commission of the offence.

12

In section 247 (which relates to the destination of fines)—

• (a) in subsection (1), after the words " forty-eight)" there shall be inserted the words " or a fine imposed in respect of an offence under section 22 of the Vehicle and Driving Licences Act 1969 ";

• (b) in subsection (2), after the words " Twelfth Schedule)" in the second place where they occur there shall be inserted the words " or a fine imposed in respect of an offence under section 22 of the Vehicle and Driving Licences Act 1969 ".

13

At the end of paragraph 1 of Schedule 15 (which contains transitional provisions for the grant of drivers' licences for heavy goods vehicles to persons in the habit of driving such vehicles) there shall be inserted the following:—

The reference in the foregoing provisions of this paragraph to the driving of a heavy goods vehicle does not include a reference to the driving of such a vehicle of a prescribed class or of such a vehicle while it is being used in prescribed circumstances.

SCHEDULE 3