§ Ms StuartTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans she has to prevent registered keys being cut without proper identification, by limiting the availability of key blanks to authorised key cutters and locksmiths. [46266]
§ Mr. MichaelI have been asked to reply.
323WConcern over the ease with which car thieves were able to obtain duplicate keys led to discussion last year between the Home Office Vehicle Crime Prevention Group and the Master Locksmiths Association. The result of negotiations between the various trade associations, the main players in the automotive key cutting industry, the police service and the Home Office resulted in a voluntary Code of Practice being drawn up at the beginning of this year which we launched on 2 March.
All key cutting outlets have been asked to comply with the Code of Practice.
There are no plans at the moment to extend the Code of Practice to cover the supply of keys generally, but we will keep progress in this area under review.