§ Mr. GorrieTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to make the clocking of motor vehicle odometers a criminal offence. [138808]
§ Dr. HowellsIt is not a criminal offence to alter the mileage shown on an odometer where this is done for legitimate reasons—such as mileage correction where a new odometer has to be fitted to a vehicle. However it is an offence to sell or to offer for sale in the course of a business a vehicle with a false mileage reading. The key to stamping out illegal practice in this area is to provide prospective purchasers and enforcement authorities with more reliable information about the true mileage of second-hand vehicles. The Government intend to do this by making the recording of mileage on vehicle registration documents and on vehicle licence applications mandatory and by introducing a system for recording vehicle mileage during MoT tests. This will complement an industry initiative to record mileage at the time that vehicles are serviced.