Road Safety Bill [HL]

I tabled Amendment No. 169A, which is in the group. I am grateful for the Minister’s explanation of his amendment, and I am sure that all Members of the Committee will support it in principle. My amendment builds on his by seeking to ensure that, when a vehicle excise licence is issued, the MIIC database is checked to ensure that the vehicle or operator really is currently insured. I have to be honest and admit that my amendment was tabled months before his. Presently, two types of fraud can be readily employed. The first is the good old-fashioned forgery. There is nothing special about an insurance certificate apart from its cost—in some cases, well over £1,000 for a car. The second is to use a certificate that is genuine but no longer valid, perhaps because only one instalment on the payment scheme has been made or the policy has been cancelled for some other reason. The MIIC will surely be informed immediately such a policy is cancelled. If my amendment or something similar were agreed to, it would be very much more difficult to tax a vehicle that was not properly insured.