Asked by: Sarah Coombes (Labour - West Bromwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing legislation to prevent the sale of novelty number plates.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), various police forces and Trading Standards in relation to the supply and use of illegal number plates as well as number plates with raised characters, commonly known as ‘4D plates’. Some 4D plates can also be described as ‘ghost’ plates where the characters are constructed from materials that are unable to be read by infrared Automatic Number Plate Recognition systems. Work is currently ongoing to quantify the number of illegal plates that may be in circulation.
It is already an offence to sell number plates that do not meet the requirements of the relevant legislation. That offence is punishable by a fine of up to £2,500. The DVLA works with the police and Trading Standards to help prosecute suppliers found to be operating outside of the law.
Number plates are currently supplied by private businesses who are required to be registered with the DVLA. Suppliers who fail to request proof of identification or entitlement to the registration number can be subject to enforcement action, including fines and removal from the Register of Number Plate Suppliers via a court order.
Asked by: Sarah Coombes (Labour - West Bromwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the DVLA's Registered Number Plate Suppliers in preventing vehicle crime.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), various police forces and Trading Standards in relation to the supply and use of illegal number plates as well as number plates with raised characters, commonly known as ‘4D plates’. Some 4D plates can also be described as ‘ghost’ plates where the characters are constructed from materials that are unable to be read by infrared Automatic Number Plate Recognition systems. Work is currently ongoing to quantify the number of illegal plates that may be in circulation.
It is already an offence to sell number plates that do not meet the requirements of the relevant legislation. That offence is punishable by a fine of up to £2,500. The DVLA works with the police and Trading Standards to help prosecute suppliers found to be operating outside of the law.
Number plates are currently supplied by private businesses who are required to be registered with the DVLA. Suppliers who fail to request proof of identification or entitlement to the registration number can be subject to enforcement action, including fines and removal from the Register of Number Plate Suppliers via a court order.
Asked by: Sarah Coombes (Labour - West Bromwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions her Department has had with the DVLA on 4D number plates.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), various police forces and Trading Standards in relation to the supply and use of illegal number plates as well as number plates with raised characters, commonly known as ‘4D plates’. Some 4D plates can also be described as ‘ghost’ plates where the characters are constructed from materials that are unable to be read by infrared Automatic Number Plate Recognition systems. Work is currently ongoing to quantify the number of illegal plates that may be in circulation.
It is already an offence to sell number plates that do not meet the requirements of the relevant legislation. That offence is punishable by a fine of up to £2,500. The DVLA works with the police and Trading Standards to help prosecute suppliers found to be operating outside of the law.
Number plates are currently supplied by private businesses who are required to be registered with the DVLA. Suppliers who fail to request proof of identification or entitlement to the registration number can be subject to enforcement action, including fines and removal from the Register of Number Plate Suppliers via a court order.
Asked by: Sarah Coombes (Labour - West Bromwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with relevant stakeholders on tackling the use of modified number plates designed to evade detection by automatic number plate recognition cameras, also known as ghost plates.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is working with the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), various police forces and Trading Standards in relation to the supply and use of modified number plates, commonly known as ‘ghost plates’. One element of the work underway is to quantify the number of illegal plates that are in circulation. The evidence received will support further action to address this issue.
Asked by: Sarah Coombes (Labour - West Bromwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with the DVLA on tackling the use of modified number plates designed to evade detection by automatic number plate recognition cameras, also known ghost plates.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is working with the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), various police forces and Trading Standards in relation to the supply and use of modified number plates, commonly known as ‘ghost plates’. One element of the work underway is to quantify the number of illegal plates that are in circulation. The evidence received will support further action to address this issue.
Asked by: Sarah Coombes (Labour - West Bromwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the extra cost of car insurance premiums faced by drivers from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We are committed to tackling the increased costs of motor insurance to deliver on our manifesto commitment, including how this impacts different demographics, geographies, and communities.
The cross-government Motor Insurance Taskforce, including the stakeholder panel, met for the first time on 16th October. The Taskforce is currently exploring short- and long-term actions for departments that may contribute to stabilising or reducing premiums, while maintaining appropriate levels of cover.
As it takes this work forwards, the Taskforce will continue to work closely with the independent Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Competition and Markets Authority. The FCA has launched a market study into the premium finance market and is undertaking work to analyse the cause of increased claims costs in the motor insurance market.
Asked by: Sarah Coombes (Labour - West Bromwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many deaths were caused by illegal street racing incidents in the West Midlands in the last ten years.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Statistics and data on road injury collisions and casualties reported to and recorded by police are collected via the data collection system known as STATS19. While STATS19 collects information on the collision circumstances, vehicles involved and contributory factors, it does not identify when collisions are the result of illegal street racing incidents.