Clause 15 - Interpretation of part I
Vehicles (Crime) Bill
9:55 am
Mr Charles Clarke (Minister of State, Home Office; Norwich South, Labour)
I welcome you back to the Chair, Mr. Sayeed. This has been a roller-coaster Committee, and it is absolutely delightful that you are presiding over our proceedings. I shall try to respond positively and constructively to helpful suggestions, and to consider the amendments that have been tabled. However, I am not willing to give time to insignificant and insubstantial interventions, so I appreciate the way in which you and Mr. O'Brien conduct our proceedings.
The word ``substantial'' is important, as it defines the scope of the Bill. If we defined a written-off vehicle as one which is in need of only repair, not substantial repair, we would bring within Bill a new category of vehicle—one which may have only superficial or minor damage, such as the bumps and scrapes that can occur in regular life, but which an owner considers is not worth repairing. For example, if a car fails its MOT, its owner may decide not to carry out the necessary repairs, but to sell it to a garage for an arbitrary sum or to part-exchange it for a newer car. I am sure that the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow), with his family experience, can talk eloquently about that—but hopefully not at length. The garage would repair the car and sell it on.
By not using the word ``substantial'', we might catch many garages that occasionally buy cars that their owners write off ,or receive them in part-exchange for newer cars. We do not believe that such action has an air of criminality about it, and the amendment would add a burden to the business, about which we have not consulted. The purpose of the Bill is to bite specifically on motor salvage operators. A significant criminal element is taking advantage of the industry, but I emphasise that we have no evidence that the same can be said about garages that buy or receive in part-exchange cars that the owners do not believe are worth repairing. That is why the word ``substantial'' is important.