§ Lord Campbell of Croy asked Her Majesty's Government:
§ When the consultation period on a future system of registration for motor vehicles and associated identifying plates is likely to be concluded.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Transport (Viscount Goschen)My Lords, the consultation period ends on 21st March this year.
Lord Campbell of CroyMy Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for his reply. As a new system will be needed by the year 2004, when the usable alphabet will have been exhausted, is there a programme in place for decisions and adequate time for preparations bearing in mind that any changes will cost money and that manufacturers and traders are hoping to receive as much notice as possible?
§ Viscount GoschenMy Lords, clearly it is important to give the maximum possible period of notice. The consultation exercise was embarked on following representations from the motor industry which was concerned about the peak in sales of motor cars and new registrations around August. We certainly shall want to give the maximum possible notice.
§ Lord Brabazon of TaraMy Lords, does my noble friend agree that the sale of personalised number plates has been an enormous success and is popular with the public? How much money has been raised by the Government during the nine or 10 years that the system has been in action?
§ Viscount GoschenMy Lords, it clearly has been a great success. The demand for cherished or personalised numbers has exceeded all expectations. I understand that over £240 million has been received as a result of sales of such numbers.
§ Lord Clinton-DavisMy Lords, does the Minister agree that legislative action on this issue is certainly overdue? Does he also agree that there are two essential common denominators here: first, the one he identified, namely, that a quarter of all car sales are crammed into the month of August, which is wholly unsatisfactory; and, secondly, that any new form of number plates must be easy to remember to help in the fight against crime and to ensure that costs for car buyers are cut as well as being in the interests of the motor industry as a whole?
§ Viscount GoschenMy Lords, I agree with the noble Lord. Certainly, the month of August is heavily biased in terms of the number of car sales that occur then. For example, in August 1996 541, 000 cars out of a total of 2.4 million were registered. That causes major problems for the motor industry, and that is why we have embarked on the consultation. Certainly, having a system which enables people to remember car number plates aids the police considerably. We also want to ensure that costs are kept low.
§ Lord Brougham and VauxMy Lords, will my noble friend and his colleagues in the department consider that although number plates should be easily remembered, car crime in England is high? The noble Lord, Lord Clinton-Davis, referred to crime. Will the Government consider the Swedish integrated information system which is readily accessible to their police and enables them to check whether a car has road tax and an MoT certificate, and whether it is insured?
§ Viscount GoschenMy Lords, that would appear to be a valuable response to the consultation exercise. It sounds as if people will send in details of that system, and it will be taken into account during our analysis of the responses.
Lord Campbell of CroyMy Lords, is not an important consideration the one already mentioned; namely, to try to avoid the inefficient concentration of sales in one short period of the year? In future will more emphasis be given in the registration figures to the area where a vehicle is first registered rather than its age, which is not really relevant?
§ Viscount GoschenMy Lords, we have covered the point with regard to the sales of motor cars throughout the calendar year. There is already a geographical identifier within the registration mark. The question of a further area mark is one of the options that has been identified and on which we are consulting.