Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of the use of show plates on licensed vehicles used on public roads; whether her Department has considered prohibiting the fitting of show plates to vehicles licensed for road use; what steps she is taking to improve enforcement against vehicles displaying number plates that do not comply with the Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001, including show plates; and whether she has had discussions with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and police forces on the prevalence of non-compliant and show plates being used on vehicles driven on public roads.

The DVLA does not routinely collect data on the prevalence of different physical plate types fitted to vehicles.

The Department for Transport is reviewing motoring offences and is consulting on introducing penalty points and vehicle seizure for being in charge of a vehicle with an incorrect/altered/false number plate and will consider whether legislative changes are needed to strengthen DVLA’s regulatory and enforcement powers. The DVLA works with police forces and the National Police Chiefs’ Council on enforcement activity to tackle the criminal use of non-compliant number plates.

The Government keeps the legislative framework for registration plates under review, including whether further measures are needed. It is already an offence to display a registration mark that does not comply with the Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001.

The DVLA is considering options to strengthen and audit the Register of Number Plate Suppliers. DVLA enforcement officers work with the police and Trading Standards on compliance activity and investigations. Officials engage regularly with DVLA and policing partners, including police forces and the National Police Chiefs’ Council, on the prevalence and enforcement of non-compliant plates, including show plates.