Mr John Bercow (Buckingham, Conservative)

Before we come to a judgment about the validity of the clause, I should be most grateful to the Minister if he will elaborate on the phrase

information of a prescribed description

in line 3.

Mr David Chidgey (Eastleigh, Liberal Democrat)

What information will be required from a prospective purchaser? Each year, about 10 million vehicle registrations are processed by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and, at any one time, many thousands of vehicle registration documents could be en route to and from the agency, or being processed by it. In such a situation, how will the registered keeper of a vehicle obtain a new plate? Will documents other than the vehicle registration document be accepted? If so, what measures will be taken to ensure that the purchaser has a bona fide right to the plate?

On a lighter note, do the Government intend to review the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 so that number plates can be positioned where they are less likely to be damaged? Plates seem to be particularly vulnerable at the front of vehicles. The hon. Gentleman will know from earlier debates that about 3 million plates have to be replaced each year because of damage. Does he have any proposals to strengthen number plates, so they are much less likely to be damaged? I look forward to his reply.

Mr Keith Hill (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions; Streatham, Labour)

Your unexpected appearance as Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Wells, is none the less greeted with great delight. [Hon. Members: ``Hear, hear.''] We look forward to your rigorous chairmanship of our proceedings.

With the exception of the question about the construction and use regulations, the hon. Members for Eastleigh (Mr. Chidgey)—I hope that I have pronounced his constituency correctly—and for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow) have asked the same question. I hope that they will accept that I cannot deal with that immediately. I will attempt, in due course, to return to that matter at a more comprehensive length, but I should point out at this stage that material used for the manufacture of number plates is set by the British Standards Institution. However, I will return to the hon. Gentleman's question at greater length.

On the question raised by the hon. Member for Buckingham, the information referred to in the clause is information that provides proof that the prospective purchaser is entitled to receive plates bearing the registration mark requested. That could be done by asking for proof of identity such as a driving licence, or a passport and proof of entitlement to the registration marks such as the registration document. In other words, it will be open to identify more extensive evidence of identity than those strictly relating to the purchase and keepership of the vehicle.

Mr David Chidgey (Eastleigh, Liberal Democrat)

My point is simple. I am concerned about the delay in the process while documents are in the post to and from the DVLA. Will that problem be resolved?

Mr Keith Hill (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions; Streatham, Labour)

I find myself regularly answering questions about the amount of time that the DVLA takes to deal with transactions and on the whole it is a relatively brief period in any circumstances—although some people might challenge that. I hope that the hon. Gentleman took my point that the Government will consider setting out in regulations the possibility of a greater range of evidence of identity than those that simply relate to the vehicle itself.

Mr John Bercow (Buckingham, Conservative)

I take this opportunity to welcome you warmly, Mr. Wells, to the chairmanship of our proceedings.

The Under-Secretary observed that on Second Reading, I required little provocation to leap to my feet and I feel tempted to do so on this occasion. He implied that he would not be able to give details now of the information of the prescribed description referred to in line 3 of clause 24. Is it the Government's intention to issue draft regulations before, or to coincide with, the Report stage of the Bill? Or will he by some other means and at what time give us some idea of the information of prescribed description?

Mr Keith Hill (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions; Streatham, Labour)

The hon. Gentleman raises a perfectly reasonable and proper point. It is certainly our intention to consult fully on the proposed regulations, and I look forward to his representations on those in due course. As he will be aware from our exchanges on Second Reading and the observations that have been made in the course of our proceedings so far, there have already been extensive consultations on the measures contained in the Bill. There has also been a high level of unanimity about the measure among the key players, including the official Opposition, who, very reasonably, chose not to divide the House on the substantive measure.

I notice that the hon. Gentleman and I both seemed to have pored intensively over the proceedings on Second Reading. He is absolutely right—I did say that he had a tendency to leap to his feet with relatively little provocation, but it is important in our proceedings that all ministerial utterances should be challenged in detail. I can reassure him that there will be comprehensive consultation on those matters before the regulations are proposed to the House.

In conclusion, the clause is one of the key provisions in this part of the Bill. It requires anyone conducting business as a registration plate supplier to ensure that plates are sold only to people who have a genuine reason for purchasing them.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 24 ordered to stand part of the Bill.