§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many cloned cars have been found in each police authority region in each of the last five years; and what steps his Department is taking to tackle cloned cars. [116858]
§ Mr. JamiesonStatistics on the number of vehicles reported to police forces as having been cloned in each of the last five years are not available.
Evidence from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency"s Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems suggests that cloning is being used by a small minority of motorists to evade fines and charges. In order to combat the problem and prevent people obtaining number plates to which they are not entitled, we have introduced measures to tighten up on the supply of plates. Since 1 January, all suppliers of number plates have been required to register with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and to keep records of sales. Purchasers of plates are required to produce evidence of their identity as well as the vehicle"s registration document.
We are now working on measures to make number plates more secure and to ensure that they can be clearly and visibly linked to the vehicle on which they are displayed. A consultation paper on number plate security will be issued shortly.