§ Mr. Peter Bruinvelsasked the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many (a) unissued and (b) spent number plates are currently held in respect of each licensing district; and, of these, how many in each case fall within his Department's definition of cherished;
(2) why some current registration numbers when reached in rotation are not issued; which numbers in which series are so retained; and if he will make a statement on his policy towards the future of these numbers.
§ Mr. Michael SpicerOver 100 million possible registration mark combinations are known not to have been issued and 1.3 million marks were assigned to vehicles which are recorded on DVLC's computer record as scrapped or permanently exported. There is no agreed definition of what constitutes a "cherished" mark but since 1983 50,000 possible combinations in the 1 to 20 number range have been withheld each year because there is currently no satisfactory basis for deciding between competing claims.
Registration marks are withheld by the Department if it is considered that they are potentially offensive or are likely to be particularly attractive (primarily those in the 1 to 20 number range). I am now considering the possibility of making attractive registration marks available by means of a sale scheme. Legislation would be required before any such scheme could be introduced.