Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of regulations governing the use of ghost number plates..

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is working with the National Police Chiefs Council, various police forces and Trading Standards in relation to the supply and use of modified number plates, including those commonly known as ‘ghost plates’. The police are responsible for on road enforcement of existing number plate offences.

It is already an offence to display a vehicle registration number that does not comply with the relevant regulations. Work is ongoing to quantify the number of illegal plates that may be in circulation. The evidence gathered will be considered when evaluating potential future action that may be taken to address this issue.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps to tackle the use of ghost number plates on public highways.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is working with the National Police Chiefs Council, various police forces and Trading Standards in relation to the supply and use of modified number plates, including those commonly known as ‘ghost plates’. The police are responsible for on road enforcement of existing number plate offences.

It is already an offence to display a vehicle registration number that does not comply with the relevant regulations. Work is ongoing to quantify the number of illegal plates that may be in circulation. The evidence gathered will be considered when evaluating potential future action that may be taken to address this issue.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what her planned timeframe is for publishing a road safety strategy.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

This Government treats road safety with the utmost seriousness, and we are committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads. My Department is developing the first road safety strategy in over a decade, and will set out more details in due course.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking with National Trading Standards to tackle the sale of ghost number plates.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

National Trading Standards (NTS) are working with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), local authorities and the police to address the supply and use of modified number plates.

The evidence gathered following a multi-agency investigation by the DVLA, the National Trading Standards Intelligence Team and police forces across the UK will be considered by the NTS National Tasking Group when evaluating potential future action to address this issue.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding her Department has provided for improving Automatic Number Plate Recognition systems in the last three years.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

A total of £85.45 million has been provided for maintaining and improving national Automatic Number Plate Recognition systems in the last three years.

ANPR technology is used for law enforcement purposes, to help detect, deter and disrupt criminality at a local, force, regional and national level.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of updating the guidance entitled Taxi and private hire vehicle licensing best practice guidance for licensing authorities in England, published on 17 November 2023, to include guidance on compliance with registration plate regulations.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

It is an offence for any vehicle to display a vehicle registration number plate that does not comply with the relevant regulations. Work is ongoing to quantify the number of illegal plates that may be in circulation on our roads, which will include taxis and private hire vehicles. The evidence gathered will be considered when evaluating potential future action, such as amending the best practice guidance, that may be taken to address this issue.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to ensure that all schools in Sandwell are listing teaching jobs with a (a) main and (b) upper pay scale.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

For maintained schools, the school teachers’ pay and conditions document (STPCD) sets out which pay range would be appropriate for any teaching role advertised in England, including Sandwell, and includes the main and upper pay ranges. The document is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-teachers-pay-and-conditions.

Non-maintained schools, including academies and free schools, are responsible for determining the pay and conditions of their staff. Such schools are therefore not currently obliged to follow the statutory arrangements set out in the STPCD, although they may still choose to do so if they wish.

However, through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, the department will require academies to have regard to the STPCD, ensuring an established starting point for all state schools while giving confidence that existing or future changes which benefit teachers and pupils, will be able to continue.

Taken together, the Bill measures and the changes we make through secondary legislation following this Bill will create a pay floor with no ceiling, ensuring all state school teachers can rely on a core pay offer and all schools can innovate to attract and retain the best teachers.

For either maintained or academy schools, it would be for the individual school to determine for themselves, when advertising vacant posts, whether the requirements of the post are more suited to the main or upper pay range, depending on the school’s budget and the range of experience and skills that applying candidates demonstrate.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of recent trends in levels of police (a) time and (b) resources used to investigate Automatic Number Plate Recognition camera mis-reads.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

A total of £85.45 million has been provided for maintaining and improving national Automatic Number Plate Recognition systems in the last three years.

ANPR technology is used for law enforcement purposes, to help detect, deter and disrupt criminality at a local, force, regional and national level.

Found: Modernisation Committee members present: Lucy Powell (Chair); Markus Campbell-Savours; Wendy Chamberlain; Sarah Coombes

Found: Committee members present: Lucy Powell (Chair); Markus Campbell-Savours; Wendy Chamberlain; Sarah Coombes

Found: Matt Rodda MP Northern Ireland Melanie Ward MP Scotland Becky Gittins MP Wales Sarah Coombes