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Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton: My Lords, perhaps I may begin by stressing that the Minister with responsibility for this area of policy intended no discourtesy to the noble Earl or to the House. I think noble Lords will agree that for the Minister in this House the workload is extremely heavy. He has departmental responsibility and is expected on many occasions to undertake ministerial responsibilities other than in the immediate London area, which inhibits his ability always to be present in this House at times which may sometimes be slightly difficult to predict and which may interfere with his ability to leave the London area. I know that he will read with great interest and fascination the points raised by the noble Earl and, if necessary--and should I prove to be inadequate to replace him--will supplement my answers in writing.
Control on number plates has been in existence since the Motor Car Act 1903, which first introduced measures to help to identify vehicles and drivers. I am sure that all noble Lords agree that it is vital that all motor vehicles should have clear and easy-to-read number plates. The noble Earl, Lord Attlee, expressed his concern about the impact of new number plate regulations on the importation of American vehicles into the UK. These vehicles are designed for the American market; consequently, the space for fitting the number plates may, as the noble Earl said, be too small to fit a UK legal number plate. Representations have been made to the department by the importers of such vehicles that the new regulations should exempt them from the standard requirement. First, let me assure the House that the department considered these representations carefully. We understand that people importing these specialist vehicles do not wish to break the law.
The noble Earl has explained the cost involved in adapting such vehicles. However, I question slightly some of his remarks. In our opinion, it should be possible to fit a UK legal number plate without undue cost, although I accept that this may have a minor effect on the appearance of the vehicle, as a UK number plate would extend beyond the area designated to accommodate a US number plate.
The noble Earl referred to the low number of these imports. However, I should point out that it is not just American cars that have this problem. All vehicles that have been manufactured for the European market
have sufficient space for fitting a standard-sized UK number plate. However, vehicles are imported into this country from other markets, especially from Japan and the Far East. Like American vehicles, they are not manufactured to European standards and, similarly, may have difficulty in fitting a UK legal number plate. We estimate that up to 100,000 vehicles may be imported into the UK annually from these other markets. This is, therefore, not a small problem.The noble Earl referred to the use of smaller plates on motor-cycles. Two-wheeled and three-wheeled vehicles, quadri-cycles, agricultural machines, work trucks and road rollers are permitted to use smaller characters on their number plates. In the case of two and three wheelers, the small number plates are necessary for safety reasons and the vehicles could not reasonably accommodate larger plates. The other vehicles that use smaller plates are tightly defined and are not generally used on public roads.
As the noble Earl recognised, we regulate number plates because we need to be able to identify vehicles. For example, the police value any information that the public can give them about a vehicle that may have been involved in a serious incident, such as a hit and run accident. Even remembering one or two of the letters of the number from a registration mark may narrow down police inquiries and help to trace the culprit.
However, in this day and age, it is no longer just the human eye that needs to read number plates; camera technology is vital to the police in enforcing some of our key road safety messages. Traffic speed cameras help to keep our roads among the safest in the world. The development of automatic number-plate readers for enforcement purposes has made it even more important that number plates should be legible. It is not just road safety that concerns us.
Vehicles are used in connection with many crimes, including terrorism. Vehicles caught on security cameras and CCTV can also provide vital evidence for the police. The new regulations therefore ensure that our number plates remain among the clearest to read in the world. Taking all those points into account, we decided that there should be no change from the existing position that American vehicles should fit standard number plates.
The noble Earl also referred to the issue of readability. I understood him to allege that we were altering the spacing. I can tell him that the spacing on acceptable number plates has not been reduced; it remains exactly the same. There has been a minimum reduction in the width of the characters from 57mm to 50mm. We are satisfied that that will not have a deleterious effect.
The EC has written to the UK Government on behalf of the importers to state that it reserves the right to challenge the regulations if they have an impact on trade within the European Union. I believe that that answers the point raised by the noble Earl.
I believe that the noble Earl briefly mentioned the issue of the position within the European Union. Noble Lords will be interested to know that these
regulations permit motorists to take advantage of an EU regulation that allows vehicles displaying the euro symbol on their number plates to dispense with the need for a separate national identity sticker for journeys within the Community. Our new number plate regulations do not require the use of that symbol. It is entirely up to the individual motorist to decide whether he wants to use that style of plate.We believe that it is important for number plates to be clear. No one should customise them or try to make them different in any way. We can never meet everyone's wishes as regards personalising or moderating the size and the style of number plates in a way that is acceptable. I appreciate that the noble Earl has expressed strong feelings on the issue of number plates for American vehicles. I shall, of course, pass on his concerns to my noble friend Lord Whitty, the Minister responsible. In the circumstances, I hope that the noble Earl will agree to withdraw his Motion.
Earl Attlee: My Lords, I am extremely grateful to the noble Baroness for her reply to my Motion. To begin with, I should like to point out that I wish the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, no discourtesy in this respect. With the planning of our business, it is unfortunate that he was unable to be here today. The noble Baroness knows very well that I work extremely closely with the noble Lord.
I did not quite catch all of the noble Baroness's reply with regard to the European Union. Unfortunately, I was being advised by one of my noble friends at the precise moment when she was saying whether or not she had received representations from the EU on the matter. The noble Baroness also referred to about 100,000 vehicles coming into the EU from the Far East. If our regulations and those of the EU discriminate against those vehicles by requiring them to be disfigured by the way that the number plates are fitted, it seems to me that we could experience some difficulty with GATT, let alone with the EU. She also said that she was happy for the number plate to extend beyond the original recess on the boot of the car. How will that number plate be illuminated?
I have a question on the Rover 75 car that is manufactured at Longbridge. If my memory serves me right, it has a half-elliptical rear number plate. It is stylish, but will it have to be disfigured in the future?
Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton: My Lords, not having the model of Rover car to which the noble Lord referred I find it impossible to answer his question either as regards its shape or whether it would require modification. Given my many years' experience of garages, I cannot believe that it is possible to create any problem that someone in a garage cannot solve. They sometimes have to have more than one attempt to achieve their objective, but I am sure that they would be able to provide the proper illumination to meet the legal requirements.
I repeat that the EC has written to the UK Government on behalf of importers to state that they reserve the right to challenge the regulations if they have an impact on trade within the EU. I think that that answers the point that the noble Earl raised. I do not foresee any difficulty with regard to imported vehicles that have been made for other markets. However, should I acquire any further information, I shall, of course, write to the noble Earl.
Earl Attlee: My Lords, I am grateful for the Minister's reply. I hope that at some time in the future
she will enjoy a Rover 75. It is unusual to vote on regulations on these occasions. However, the House would not hesitate to do so if that were necessary. That is not the case this afternoon and, in any case, the time is clearly not right. Therefore, I beg leave to withdraw the Motion.
- House adjourned at eighteen minutes before three o'clock.
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