§ Mr. MossTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has for legislation to make illegal the practice of car clocking; and if he will make a statement. [3855]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonThe Trade Descriptions Act 1968 already makes it an offence to sell a car, in the course of a business, with a false odometer reading. Some prosecutions are also taken under the Theft Act 1968. However, I am concerned that there can be difficulties in gathering the necessary evidence of a car's true mileage, and in tracing previous owners, and the Government is looking at ways of tackling these problems. The Director General of Fair Trading is expected to report shortly on the outcome of his recent consultation exercise on 173W problems concerning used cars, including clocking. I and Ministerial colleagues will consider his findings and recommendations extremely carefully.
§ Mr. MossTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what representations he has received from trading standards chairmen calling for action against the practice of car clocking. [3836]
§ Ms JacksonThe Institute of Trading Standards Administration and the Local Authorities Co-ordinating Body for Food and Trading Standards responded in 1995 to the consultation paper on new arrangements for vehicle registration. They supported the proposal that the provision of mileage information to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency when a vehicle changes hands should be made mandatory.
The question of making the provision of mileages a mandatory requirement of the registration system is currently under review.