New powers and penalties to tackle ‘ghost’ plates

Department for Transport sets out changes to motoring offences

Drivers who use altered or false number plates face receiving new penalties part of a government review of motoring offences.

The government is consulting on a raft new penalties for motoring offences as part of the launch of its new Road Safety Strategy.

There are a total of five consultations supporting the Road Safety Strategy:

• motoring offences
• introducing a minimum learning period for learner drivers (category B driving licence)
• introducing mandatory eyesight testing for older drivers 
• improving moped and motorcycle training, testing and licensing (categories AM, A1, A2 and A driving licence)
• mandating vehicle safety technologies in GB type approval

The Department for Transport is reviewing the motoring offences framework, which has not been substantially changed since the introduction of the Road Traffic Act 1988, and the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988. The aim is to bring the offences framework up to date, ensuring that penalties are appropriate to the harm caused, and that they act as a suitable deterrent.

“Holding a driving licence is not an automatic right,” states the Road Safety Strategy. “Effective use of the penalty points system, licence suspension and disqualification, and vehicle seizure, encourages better behaviours, and when necessary, removes the most serious offenders from the road.”

The government’s consultation on motoring offences is a response concernd raised by police and road safety groups, who worry that some offences do not carry extra penalties, such as penalty points or vehicle seizure. These include offences related to:

• a vehicle’s roadworthiness (no MOT)
• where no current keeper is identifiable
• incorrect, altered or false number plates that prevent justice from being done.

In particular, it has become harder for police to identify who is using a vehicle because some offenders go to great lengths to hide who owns it or who was driving – this makes it harder for the police to keep the public safe and pursue offenders.

The DfT said that there is a significant amount of evidence of disguising a vehicle’s true ownership to avoid compliance with vehicle excise duty requirements and other payment requirements for the use of certain roads. This places an additional burden on those law-abiding drivers when revenue shortfall to the treasury due to fraud has to be made up.

The police currently have the powers to seize a vehicle from those driving whilst uninsured, or not in accordance with their driving licence. The use of this power has to be proportionate and allows police to use their discretion not to seize where they feel that is an appropriate decision based on the merits of each situation.

In matters involving vehicle seizure, the government would mirror the no insurance seizure provisions, enabling discretion and proportionality to be at the forefront of any use of powers.

The public consultation is seeking views on changes to current motoring offences and the potential introduction of other offences, including:

• drink and drug driving
• seat belt usage
• failure to stop and report
• driving unlicensed
• driving without a current MOT
• driving without motor insurance
• use of illegal number plates, including ‘ghost’ number plates.

The consultation runs until 31 March.

Launching the consultation on motoring offences local transport minister Lilian Greenwood said: “In 2024, there were 1,602 deaths on our roads – an average of around 30 a week, or 4 to 5 per day. There were also 27,865 serious injuries on our roads. Although the UK has some of the safest roads in the world, these figures remain far too high, and this government does not accept that these deaths and serious injuries are inevitable. With the number of UK road deaths having plateaued since 2010, it’s clear that strong, decisive action is long overdue. 

“The government recognises the need to take action now to reduce casualties and damage on our roads. There is no silver bullet of one measure that will drastically reduce road death. Real progress will come when a range of measures work together, systematically and consistently, towards a common goal.”

The consultation was welcomed by Sarah Coombes MP, who as a member of the All Party Group for Transport Safety, has been a vocal campaigner on the issue of false number plates. “After months of campaigning in parliament for harsher penalties if a driver is caught with a ghost plate, the government is going to crack down on illegal number plates,” she said. “They have announced today that drivers will face penalty points and have their vehicles seized if they use a ghost plate. They will also bring in rules that address the sale and supply of dodgy plates too.”