Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to tackle number plate cloning.

The law requires that anyone who supplies number plates for road use in the UK must be registered with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). It is a legal requirement for suppliers to carry out checks to ensure that number plates are only sold to those who can prove they are entitled to the registration number. Number plate suppliers must also keep records of the plates they have supplied.

The DVLA visits number plate suppliers to monitor compliance with the legal requirements and works closely with the police and trading standards to share intelligence and support investigations and prosecutions of suppliers who do not comply.

Anyone who suspects that their number plate has been cloned should report this to the police, who are responsible for on road enforcement. Any fines or correspondence received for offences which have not been committed should be returned to the issuing authorities for investigation. Vehicle keepers can also contact the DVLA, to request issuing a new registration number for a vehicle where necessary.