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 trends in the level of use of illegal number plates between 2021 and 2025.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) does not hold data on the level of use of illegal number plates. On road enforcement is a matter for the police.

The DVLA works with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and other government departments to improve the identification and enforcement of number plate crime.

The law requires that anyone who supplies number plates for road use in the UK must be registered with the 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. Selling a number plate without carrying out these required checks carries a maximum penalty of a fine of £1,000 and the potential removal from the Register of Number Plate Suppliers (RNPS).

The DVLA is considering options to ensure a more robust, auditable RNPS process which would enable tighter checks on number plate suppliers.