New Clause 9 - Revenue
Vehicles (Crime) Bill
5:15 pm
Mr John Bercow (Buckingham, Conservative)
I agree with the hon. Gentleman, although I would not want to go into the specifics of the matter.
We have all seen examples that are causes for concern. Fairly recently, not far from my Westminster flat, I saw a vehicle that had been burned out and abandoned, and was emitting an unpleasant odour. I do not know whether there was petrol in it. After a while, a sticker saying ``Police Aware'' was attached to it, and soon after that—although not as soon as I would have liked—it was removed.
Under section 2 of the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978 it is an offence—for which a fine of up to £2,500 can be levied—to abandon a vehicle at any place in the open air. Under section 3 of the Act, councils have a duty to remove any abandoned vehicle. However, that is expensive, and local authorities often feel unable properly to fulfil the duty when they have many others to discharge. Whether or not a motor vehicle has been abandoned must be deduced from all the circumstances of the case. Section 2 appears to cover permanent, not temporary, abandonment. Section 2(2) states that
a person who leaves any thing on any land in such circumstances or for such a period that he may reasonably be assumed to have abandoned it
has contravened that part of the Act.
The offence may be prosecuted by anyone—for example, an aggrieved landowner.
This point, relating as it does to the disposal of vehicles and to offences in relation to vehicles, will be of the closest possible interest, concern and, indeed, potential anxiety, to the Under-Secretary.
I should appreciate it if the Minister would attend for a few moments—