Clause 1
Vehicle Registration Marks Bill
9:30 am
Stephen Ladyman (Minister of State, Department for Transport; South Thanet, Labour)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr. Conway. The explanation that the right hon. Gentleman suggested that I would give to the Committee for why I was going to resist his amendment was not the explanation that I was going to give, but it is such a good one that I will now adopt it as Government policy.
I think that I can give the right hon. Gentleman the assurances he is seeking. First, I have had no discussions whatsoever with ministerial colleagues about harmonisation of number plates, and I am not aware that any of my officials have had such discussions. If any such discussions are going on in the Commission or elsewhere, then I am not aware of them. Personally, I would resist any such discussions, for the reasons that I stated earlier. There is a thriving cherished number plate industry in this country, which would come to an end and from which the DVLA makes a significant amount of money on behalf of the taxpayer that the taxpayer would otherwise have to step in and provide. It would not be in our interest to harmonise number plates. European number plates are very boring, and we should have a little romance and excitement in our lives, even if it is only in our number plates.
As stated in the explanatory notes, the cost will be £95,000 to £100,000. It is our intention to absorb that cost and not to pass it on in the cherished number plate transfer fee. The Committee may look upon it as my gift to the cherished number plate industry.