Asked by: Sarah Coombes (Labour - West Bromwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many suppliers on the register of number plate suppliers have been found to be failing to carry out legal checks before selling a number plate.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The information requested about the number of people with criminal convictions, including fraud, is not held by the Department.
The DVLA supports Trading Standards and the police in prosecuting suppliers who fail to meet the requirements of the relevant legislation. During 2025, the DVLA has supported Trading Standards and the police in the successful prosecution of 14 suppliers. These included offences of not keeping records and failing to ask for the required documentation. The DVLA also carries out audits of registered number plate suppliers and sends warning letters where appropriate. Over the last five years the DVLA has carried out 7,993 audits and sent 3,759 warning letters. The warning letters issued are related to not keeping the required records, supplying number plates without seeing original documents and for being an unregistered supplier.
Asked by: Sarah Coombes (Labour - West Bromwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many number plate suppliers have been found to be selling number plates without asking for vehicle ownership details.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The information requested about the number of people with criminal convictions, including fraud, is not held by the Department.
The DVLA supports Trading Standards and the police in prosecuting suppliers who fail to meet the requirements of the relevant legislation. During 2025, the DVLA has supported Trading Standards and the police in the successful prosecution of 14 suppliers. These included offences of not keeping records and failing to ask for the required documentation. The DVLA also carries out audits of registered number plate suppliers and sends warning letters where appropriate. Over the last five years the DVLA has carried out 7,993 audits and sent 3,759 warning letters. The warning letters issued are related to not keeping the required records, supplying number plates without seeing original documents and for being an unregistered supplier.
Asked by: Sarah Coombes (Labour - West Bromwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what previous criminal offences checks the DVLA carries out on people on the register of number plate suppliers.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The information requested about the number of people with criminal convictions, including fraud, is not held by the Department.
The DVLA supports Trading Standards and the police in prosecuting suppliers who fail to meet the requirements of the relevant legislation. During 2025, the DVLA has supported Trading Standards and the police in the successful prosecution of 14 suppliers. These included offences of not keeping records and failing to ask for the required documentation. The DVLA also carries out audits of registered number plate suppliers and sends warning letters where appropriate. Over the last five years the DVLA has carried out 7,993 audits and sent 3,759 warning letters. The warning letters issued are related to not keeping the required records, supplying number plates without seeing original documents and for being an unregistered supplier.
Asked by: Sarah Coombes (Labour - West Bromwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people previously convicted of fraud offences are on the register of number plate suppliers.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The information requested about the number of people with criminal convictions, including fraud, is not held by the Department.
The DVLA supports Trading Standards and the police in prosecuting suppliers who fail to meet the requirements of the relevant legislation. During 2025, the DVLA has supported Trading Standards and the police in the successful prosecution of 14 suppliers. These included offences of not keeping records and failing to ask for the required documentation. The DVLA also carries out audits of registered number plate suppliers and sends warning letters where appropriate. Over the last five years the DVLA has carried out 7,993 audits and sent 3,759 warning letters. The warning letters issued are related to not keeping the required records, supplying number plates without seeing original documents and for being an unregistered supplier.
Asked by: Sarah Coombes (Labour - West Bromwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people with criminal convictions are on the register of number plate suppliers.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The information requested about the number of people with criminal convictions, including fraud, is not held by the Department.
The DVLA supports Trading Standards and the police in prosecuting suppliers who fail to meet the requirements of the relevant legislation. During 2025, the DVLA has supported Trading Standards and the police in the successful prosecution of 14 suppliers. These included offences of not keeping records and failing to ask for the required documentation. The DVLA also carries out audits of registered number plate suppliers and sends warning letters where appropriate. Over the last five years the DVLA has carried out 7,993 audits and sent 3,759 warning letters. The warning letters issued are related to not keeping the required records, supplying number plates without seeing original documents and for being an unregistered supplier.
Asked by: Sarah Coombes (Labour - West Bromwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of current legislation in ensuring that there is sufficient (a) liability and (b) responsibility in the case of a collision caused by an automated vehicle.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The framework in place today, established by the Automated and Electric Vehicles Act 2018, provides a process for Secretary of State to list vehicles as "automated" and sets out that if a listed vehicle causes an accident while driving itself, liability will be placed directly onto the vehicle's insurer. This provides victims with a clear and single point of contact for compensation.
The insurer’s liability may be limited where the injured party’s actions contributed to the accident. And after compensating the victim, the Act also gives the insurer the right to bring a claim against the party at fault for the accident, for example the vehicle manufacturer.
Vehicles piloted under the Automated Passenger Services (APS) permitting scheme will be listed under the 2018 Act if in the Secretary of State’s opinion they can safely and legally drive themselves for at least part of the journey without being monitored by a safety driver. Subject to consultation outcomes, the Automated Passenger Services permitting scheme is expected to be in place from Spring 2026.
Once the Automated Vehicles Act 2024 is fully in force, which we expect to happen in the second half of 2027, listing decisions will be replaced by the Secretary of State’s decisions as to whether to authorise vehicles. As with listing, vehicles will only be authorised if the Secretary of State is satisfied that the vehicles can safely and legally drive themselves. The rest of the provisions of the 2018 Act will continue to apply so that the insurer will be liable if an authorised vehicle causes an accident when driving itself.
Asked by: Sarah Coombes (Labour - West Bromwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to ensure that data being transmitted by UK automated vehicles to manufacturers is not stored offshore.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Effective and secure storage of data produced by self-driving vehicles is vital for their deployment. Ahead of full implementation of the Automated Vehicles Act 2024 in the second half of 2027, the Department for Transport will be seeking further information on data storage as part of upcoming consultations on the regulatory framework.
Asked by: Sarah Coombes (Labour - West Bromwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions she has had with manufacturers on helping to ensure that (a) disabled people and (b) people with accessibility needs are served adequately by automated vehicles.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Ministers and officials regularly engage with the self-driving vehicle industry to understand opportunities and emerging best practice in respect of accessibility. For example, Waymo, a leading autonomous ride-hailing company and a member of the Department’s Automated Vehicles Industry Working Group, works with disability advocates through the Waymo Accessibility Network to involve disabled people in their work to improve access to their services.
A range of individuals and companies, including vehicle manufacturers, submitted responses to the Automated Passenger Services (APS) Statutory Instrument Consultation that closed at the end of September. The consultation sought views on the types of information that permit holders should publish on how any new service is meeting the needs of older and disabled people. These responses are being analysed, and we intend to issue a government response in 2026.
Asked by: Sarah Coombes (Labour - West Bromwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of automated vehicles on road safety.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
With 88% of road traffic collisions currently involving human error as a contributory factor, self-driving vehicles offer an opportunity to make our roads safer for the people who rely on them.
Government will publish a Statement of Safety Principles – subject to consultation and approval by Parliament – against which the safety of these vehicles will be assessed.
The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 commits us to framing the statement of safety principle with a view to securing that:
authorised automated vehicles will achieve a level of safety equivalent to, or higher than, that of careful and competent human drivers. This is the same high standard to which we hold humans, and a higher standard than that of the average driver on UK roads – which is dragged down by those who break the law, or who are distracted, tired, or intoxicated; and
road safety in Great Britain will be better because of authorised automated vehicles on roads than it would otherwise be.
Those companies that take responsibility for self-driving vehicles will be subject to a rigorous new regulatory regime, which will operate alongside an independent Incident Investigation function.
Together, this will build-in the same culture of learning and continuous improvement that has helped make our aviation, nuclear, and pharmaceutical industries some of the safest in the world.
In June 2025, we published a call for evidence on the statement of safety principles. Responses are now being analysed, and we intend to publish a further consultation on the principles in 2026.
Asked by: Sarah Coombes (Labour - West Bromwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to ensure occupant safety in automated vehicles.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Automated Passenger Services permitting scheme consultation sought views from respondents on what sort of information could be published by permit holders in respect of the safeguarding of passengers. The consultation closed at the end of the September and responses are being analysed.
Government intends that any organisation wishing to deploy an automated passenger services can evidence robust safeguarding policies to ensure passenger safety throughout the journey.