Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to tackle the illegal use of motorcycles in Southampton.

The police have powers under the Road Traffic Act 1988 and Police Reform Act 2002 to seize vehicles being driven illegally without a valid driving licence or insurance or in an anti-social manner. Decisions on when to use these powers are operational matters for individual Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables in conjunction with local policing plans. They are best placed to understand how to meet the needs of local communities and I welcome the work Hampshire Constabulary are doing to tackle the illegal use of motorcycles under Operation Torque.