Written question asked by Lord Spellar (Labour) on Thursday, 29 January 2026, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 12 February 2026. It was answered by Lord Hanson of Flint (Labour) on Wednesday, 11 February 2026 on behalf of the Home Office.

Vehicle Number Plates: Standards

Question: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that police have adequate powers to detain vehicles with number plates that are non-readable by automatic number plate recognition systems in order to assess whether the vehicle or driver have committed other offences.

Answer: This Government takes road safety extremely seriously and is committed to reducing the numbers of those killed and injured on our roads, as well as tackling behaviours that make our roads less safe. We have tough penalties and rigorous enforcement in place to deter offending behaviour. The government published the Road Safety Strategy on 7 January which consults on a number of motoring offences, including tougher enforcement to tackle illegal number plates. Police have a suite of powers to deal with vehicles being driven illegally, anti-socially or carelessly and without insurance or a driving licence. These powers include seizure and disposal of vehicles involved in offences. Police also have the power to stop a vehicle so that further investigation of potential offences can take place.The Government is also working with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the police and industry to improve the identification and enforcement of number plate crime.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: HL14123
Session: 2024-26
Subjects: Standards Vehicle number plates Automatic number plate recognition
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk