§ Lord Brougham and Vauxasked Her Majesty's Government:
In the light of the debate on 16 February 1994, (a) what progress has been made to promote the fitment of visible vehicle identification numbers to all new cars; (b) what similar initiative is being adopted by the manufacturers of commercial and heavy goods vehicles; and (c) what proposals there are to ensure that new plant and equipment is fitted with a secure and unique identification number.
§ Baroness Blatch:A survey of passenger cars offered for sale in the United Kingdom, conducted in May 1994 by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), revealed that visible vehicle identification numbers were provided on 43 per cent. of the 881 models surveyed. Of the aforementioned, 68 per cent. were on the structure of the vehicle, with the remainder etched into the window glass.
The Government are supporting the development, by the British Standards Institute, of a standard for visible vehicle identification numbers which may, in due course, be used as the basis of a UK Government proposal to the European Commission to amend the current EC directive on vehicle identification numbers.
83WAA draft has been prepared and will shortly be issued for public consultation.
The major manufacturers of trucks sold in the United Kingdom have, at the request of the police, Home Office and vehicle operators, recently agreed to move to increasing the security of their vehicles to help combat the problem of commercial vehicle theft. Included as one of the minimum measures to be progressively adopted is the fitment of visible vehicle identification numbers on chassis rails.
The construction industry has itself set up a number of voluntary registration schemes using serial, chassis, engine, transmission and other numbers, whose purpose is to assist the police in the identification of plant and equipment. The Vehicle Crime Prevention Group, a sub-committee of the National Board for Crime Prevention, has identified unique identification numbers for construction plant as an issue which needs to be addressed as a matter of some urgency and will be making recommendations to the Government on possible ways forward once it has given the matter close and careful consideration.
§ Lord Brougham and Vauxasked Her Majesty's Government:
What progress they have made with car park operators, and other interested parties, in reducing the risk and incidence of crime in car parks.
§ Baroness Blatch:The problem of car crime in car parks is an area which the Government have been keen to address as part of their car crime prevention strategy.
Following the publication of Home Office research in 1992 into this subject, Home Office Ministers met major car park operators in 1993 and 1994 to consider what could be done to make car parking facilities more secure and to keep up pressure on the parking industry. Ministers have been particularly keen to promote the police-backed "Secured Car Parks" scheme.
In October 1994 the chairman of the vehicle crime prevention sub-group of the national board, met car park operators to monitor what progress had been made. There was general support for the Secured Car Parks scheme at this meeting and operators are responding positively to the need to improve security.
To date, nearly 300 car parks in the United Kingdom have won awards under the Secured Car Parks scheme and there is evidence to suggest that it and the work of operators in improving security generally has helped reduce the incidence of car crime;
in King's Lynn in Norfolk, where all 16 of the town centre's car parks have received gold awards, there were seven reported vehicle crimes in 1993 compared with 150 in 1991.
British Rail reported a 15 per cent. reduction in car crime in car parks in 1993 and there are likely to be further reductions in 1994.
Two refurbished car parks in Croydon have reported reductions in car crime of 70 per cent. And 84WA 30 per cent. respectively in 1994 compared with 1993.
The police are looking at ways of promoting and extending the Secured Car Parks scheme and we shall continue to monitor developments in this area.