Number Plates Intended to Defeat Enforcement Cameras
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Lord Snape
To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to prevent the manufacture, sale and use of number plates intended to defeat enforcement cameras, including automatic number plate recognition systems; and whether they plan to strengthen regulation or enforcement in this area.
The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill) (Lab)
The Government recognise the urgency and importance of tackling the use of illegal number plates designed to evade enforcement cameras. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is working hard with the police, other enforcement agencies and the industry to address the manufacture and misuse of such plates. This includes tightening application, inspection and audit processes for number plate suppliers. In the recently published Road Safety Strategy, the Government have set out proposals for reviewing standards, tougher enforcement, tougher penalties and the potential use of AI to help stamp out illegal plates.
Lord Snape (Lab)
My Lords, will the Minister join me in congratulating Sarah Coombes, the Member of Parliament for West Bromwich, on pursuing this matter in the way that she has? Does he agree that the fact that anyone can apply to be a number plate issuer on a payment of £40 to his department, and that 36,000 people or companies have already done so, is an open incentive for fraud so far as motoring is concerned? As the penalty for non-compliance with number plate regulations is £100, does he further agree that it is a better bet to take a chance with a false number plate than it is to properly insure your own vehicle?
Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)
I second my noble friend’s congratulations to Sarah Coombes on raising this important subject. The DVLA is already on the case to strengthen the application process to become a registered number plate supplier and to make it more robust. Options being considered include, as my noble friend remarked, the fee level, the structure, eligibility criteria, and much greater enforcement.
Baroness Pidgeon (LD)
My Lords, what discussions are the Government having with major online retailers about preventing the sale of illegal number plates, and what is the Government’s assessment of the scale of this problem?
Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)
The actions taken by the Government include considering online sales of number plates, which is clearly one source of illegal number plates. As to the scale and for an example: in 1,000 vehicle checks carried out by the Metropolitan Police with Transport for London in March 2023 using cameras which are able to detect ghost number plates, 41% of licensed taxis and private hire vehicles were found to have non-compliant plates.
Lord Hogan-Howe (CB)
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Snape, raised a really good point, together with others. The ANPR system is very good. It is fixed in various places around the country, it is also in many police vehicles, and it helps to spot people who commit crime, particularly those who have no insurance. Some people pass that off, but 70% of those who are uninsured are criminals, so it is a really interesting group to keep an eye on. People in that group are five times more likely to have collisions, and when they have them, it is nine times more likely that they will be serious. This is a really important piece of kit. There are two things the Minister might want to look at. One is that the scientific support that was available to the police has been subsumed within the defence realm, and I am afraid it has reduced in its significance and the expertise has been lost. Secondly, and probably as importantly, the people who deliver these registration plates to us all are registered, so somebody needs to check that they are doing what they say they are doing. I am afraid that that is not happening.
Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)
Of course, the noble Lord has huge experience in policing and enforcement. I have to say that I was not aware of the point that he makes about scientific support, but the department is working hard on understanding the technical characteristics which prevent these plates being seen by ANPR. I answered the point about registered makers on a previous question.
Viscount Goschen (Con)
My Lords, given what the Minister has quite rightly said about enforcement, why do the Government and the police appear to tolerate the use on our streets of illegal, high-powered electric motorcycles, particularly by delivery companies, which bear no registration marks and whose riders carry no insurance?
Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)
The noble Viscount is straying some way from illegal number plates, but that subject has been discussed in this House before. The enforcement is of course a matter for chief police officers, but the Government are very seriously considering the sale of such motorcycles.
Lord Spellar (Lab)
My Lords, I echo the comments from my noble friend Lord Snape regarding the Member of Parliament for the neighbouring seat to my old one, Sarah Coombes in West Bromwich, but I also highlight the point that this is linked to lots of other crime. It is linked to petrol theft, which is an enormous problem for retailers, to county lines drug dealing, and to robbery and car boot sales. There is a real problem with this. Therefore, should we look not just at increasing the penalties but at the confiscation of improperly plated vehicles?
Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)
My noble friend is absolutely right, and the Government are considering precisely those two things, among others.
Lord Geddes (Con)
My Lords, is the legality of number plates checked during MoT inspection?
Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)
That is a very good point. The legality of number plates is checked during MoT inspection, but my understanding is that many of those who use false number plates have a proper set for the MoT or other examination and an illegal set which they then change afterwards.
Lord McLoughlin (Con)
My Lords, bearing in mind that the Question relates to enforcement cameras, would the Minister like to inform the House as to the reliability of those cameras, bearing in mind the recent story about Highways England failing to monitor them correctly?
Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)
I refer the noble Lord to Hansard for yesterday, when we discussed precisely that issue at Questions.
Lord Moylan (Con)
My Lords, as noble Lords have made clear and illustrated, we are living in an increasingly lawless environment on the highway: everything from bicycles at red lights to uninsured vehicles—a number of things have been mentioned. The Department for Transport seems to regard its role as quite separate from that of the enforcement authorities. When the department is devising new regulations or changing existing ones, what engagement does it have with the police but also with local highways authorities, who are there to enforce those regulations, as to how realistic it is and what resources they have to be able to deliver the enforcement?
Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)
I refer the Lord to page 40 of the recently published Road Safety Strategy, where there is a lot of text headed by:
“Continuing to work closely with the police and other enforcement agencies to ensure the outcomes of the Roads Policing Review are fully considered”,
and underneath it is text that indicates very clearly that the department is working very closely with the police, other enforcement agencies and highway agencies to get the law enforced on our roads.
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)
My Lords, I am grateful that the noble Lord is showing such an interest in the pilots for illegally operated, privately-owned e-scooters. Can I urge him to show a degree of urgency? When will the pilots come to an end, and when will the Government bring forward legislation to implement regulations?
Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)
I absolutely guarantee that this Government will show more urgency than the last one, who started an experiment a very long time ago but concluded nothing from it, and we have had to virtually start again.
Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Lab)
My Lords, does my noble friend agree that, while I understand what the noble Lord opposite said about a “lawless” society, it is irresponsible to use such terms? In fact, we live in a much safer society than in many parts of the world and live in the great city of London, and I think we would all admonish some people in other parties who refer to London as an unsafe city.
Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)
I certainly support my noble friend’s statement in that regard. We are dealing here with a particular issue, that this boil needs to be lanced. It is not indicative of our whole society crumbling.
Lord Leigh of Hurley (Con)
My Lords, in other parts of the world, bicycles for hire—Lime bikes—are required to have small number plates attached to them so that perpetrators of crimes and offences can be easily identified. Can we adopt such plans?
Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)
This Government and previous Governments have looked at identifying cycles on the road and concluded that it is really quite a difficult issue and would be disproportionate to the results, but the noble Lord must know that the Government are taking action about bicycle hire schemes, because their proprietors bear responsibility for the safety of the cycles and some responsibility for the behaviour of the riders. That is being considered by the Government and will come before this House.