Written question asked by Martin Horwood (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 7 December 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 11 December 2006. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Tuesday, 19 December 2006 on behalf of the Home Office.

Wheel Clamping

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the merits of a mandatory scheme for regulating the behaviour of wheel clamping operators (a) on private land and (b) elsewhere; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of existing regulations.

Answer: In January 2004 the Home Office published a full regulatory impact assessment entitled ““Regulations to implement the Private Security Industry Act 2001 (the 2001 Act) in respect of Door Supervisors and Vehicle Immobilisers”” which considered the merits of a mandatory scheme for regulating wheel-clamping operators in the private security industry. This publication is available on the Security Industry Authority’s (SIA) website at:"http://www.the-sia.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/2AE9A564-0443-4E47-AFCF-95BF8820A2B7/0/sia_ds_vi_ria.pdf."This covered individual vehicle immobilisers operating on private land where wheel-clamping is not governed by the Road Traffic Act 1991, as this was the scope defined by the 2001 Act. Licensing for these vehicle immobilisers was rolled out in February 2005. The Home Office is keeping the situation under review and will be formally assessing the effectiveness of this licensing work in due course.The Department for Transport is considering the results of a recent consultation on regulations and statutory guidance to be made under Part six of the Traffic Management Act 2004, including the regulation of wheel-clamping activity on public land, and hopes to lay new regulations in Parliament in early 2007.

Secondary information