HC Deb 14 January 1993 vol 216 cc1050-1
9. Sir Anthony Grant

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department is taking to persuade dealers to fit security devices to second-hand cars.

Mr. Jack

Through the medium of my advisory committee on car crime, I am working closely with the Retail Motor Industry Federation and the Association of Chief Police Officers to encourage the wider adoption of schemes such as Essex Sold Secure and Northumbria Partnership Against Car Theft, which are specifically targeted at improving the security of second-hand cars.

Sir Anthony Grant

That is all very well, but the current level of car crime is a national scandal. Whoever is responsible—ram-raiders, or young idiots misery-riding—something must be done. The answer is to fit cars with immobilisers. A number of inexpensive models are available; I recommended one to the former Home Secretary, but nothing happened. I have one here—it is a very simple model.

Car dealers and manufacturers will do nothing until they are compelled to. It is up to the Home Office to put a stick behind them.

Mr. Jack

There is certainly nothing immobile about my hon. Friend's solution to the problem. When I visited the motor show this year, I was heartened to see that many more cars made by our leading manufacturers were already fitted with immobilisers and alarms as a standard precaution. After all, those cars will ultimately become second-hand cars. I hope that the methods of Northumbria Partnership Against Car Theft—which instructs the public about precautions such as that described by my hon. Friend—will be widely adopted. Such precautions have already contributed to the reduction in car crime.

Ms. Lynne

In the light of the Minister's reply to me on 4 December, will he inform us of the progress of the discussions with our European partners about fitting inbuilt security systems to new motor cars? Will he also include second-hand cars in the European directive, if that is possible?

Mr. Jack

The hon. Lady is right to draw attention to that aspect. Work is in progress, led by the Department of Transport, to try to encourage our European colleagues to adopt higher standards in connection with locks, alarms and immobilisers. Obviously, the progress that we make today in regard to new cars will affect the second-hand cars of tomorrow.