Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Charlotte Atkins (Labour). It was answered on Monday, 23 October 2006 on behalf of the Home Office.

Antisocial Go-ped Riding

Question: I welcome the Home Secretary’s response, but can he tell me whether the summer campaign to seize mini-motorbikes was a success? Despite all the enforcement measures that he has listed, it concerns my constituents in Leek, Biddulph and other areas that the issue of antisocial behaviour is not high enough on the list of police priorities.

Answer: My hon. Friend makes a good point. There are powers for the tackling of go-peds and mini-motos, which are a danger and a chronic nuisance to many people not just in her constituency but elsewhere, but she is right to say that enforcement of those powers is patchy throughout the country. That is one of the reasons why we spent some £200,000 over the summer on an information campaign to try to heighten the awareness of practitioners such as local authorities and police forces—as well as that of the public—of the ways of tackling the nuisance that lie in their own hands. The campaign has been a success in many areas, although it has been used to a limited extent in my hon. Friend’s area. I believe that there has been one seizure and five warnings, which is a relatively small result compared to that in many other areas. However, I hope that the increasing availability of information will encourage local authorities and police to take action against something that is becoming a terrible nuisance for many people.

Secondary information