Clause 24 - Provision of information on sale of registration plates
Vehicles (Crime) Bill
9:55 am
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.