§ Mr. BrazierTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport when details of the proposed new British standard for vehicle number plates will be made available.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyThe British Standards Institution has now issued for public comment a draft revision of BS AU 145a governing the manufacture of number plates. I have placed a copy in the Library.
We welcome these proposals. The quality and durability of plates would be improved and the proposed unique standard character font would be much easier to read than many of the styles currently available.
The revised standard is an integral part of a package of measures which, if approved by the House, would make it much harder for criminals to obtain number plates for illegal purposes. The package has been extensively discussed with number plate producers, and has been tailored to keep additional costs to the trade and the motorist to a minimum.
Depending on the outcome of BSI's consultation exercise we would hope to present the necessary regulations next spring so that the scheme could be mandatory from 1 August 1990.