Council agrees to sell £7000 private number plate

WEST Lothian Council has agreed to sell off its private registration plate worth an estimated £7000.

After numerous calls from taxpayers, officials at the council believe the sale will send out the right message to staff and the community, as Scotland’s local authorities struggle with a debt in excess £9 billion.

Retaining the ASX 1 number plate is no longer a priority, said Council leader Peter Johnston as he also announced plans to get rid of the chauffeur driven Volvo S80.

He said: "We've said from the beginning that no stone can be left unturned in our quest to find vital savings in the face of a £60 million budget shortfall.

"Councillors must lead by example and we will be moving to approve these changes at the council executive in early November."

But other cash strapped councils are still refusing to follow this example, even though half of the Scottish local authorities own prestige number plates, a few of which are believed to be amongst the most valuable in the UK.

Glasgow City Council owns two registrations which are each said to be worth up to £500,000, and the City of Edinburgh Council owns the S0 plate, valued somewhere in the region of £100,000 and £500,000.

'G0' is one of the official registrations owned by Glasgow City Council




Edinburgh Council's 'S0' plate





ES 1, the plate that currently graces the provost of Perth and Kinross's car, is thought to be worth around £150,000.

West Lothian Council's move to sell unnecessary assets has been welcomed by groups campaigning for less waste in the public sector and Emma Boon, from Taxpayer's Alliance, said it was time the other authorities did the same.

"While it's great that West Lothian are selling their number plate and getting rid of their civic car, it's disappointing that other Scottish councils are yet to follow suit. Said Emma.

"In these tough financial conditions councils must find significant savings.

"It would be unfair to expect taxpayers to continue to fund a civic car and it's disgraceful for councils to cling on to these luxuries at a time when taxpayers are struggling to make ends meet."

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: "Services have yet to finalise their proposed savings for the coming year."

And officials at the City of Edinburgh Council said the local authority would not be putting its personalised number plates up for sale as they were of "historical value to the city".

A Rover 75 used by Midlothian's Council has the registration plate SY 0, with an estimated value of £50,000.




A spokesperson said: "There are no plans to change the civic car provision in the near future and consideration has not been given to changing its number plate.
The SY 0 plate is part of Midlothian’s heritage and an asset which grows in value every year."

"The vehicles are not just used by council dignitaries but are also essential for guests including visiting royalty and important businesses."






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Council slammed for not selling NH1 number plate worth "£400,000"

Bosses at another Council have been slammed for refusing to bolster the coffers by selling the mayors private registration plates, worth an estimated £400,000.

The number plate 'NH 1' has been on the Mayor of Northampton's ceremonial car for decades.

But Northampton Borough Council say it is not worth selling because it would only reduce the local individual’s council tax bill by £4.

But the TaxPayers’ Alliance yesterday urged the council to sell the reg plates and raise money for those struggling to make ends meet.

A spokeswoman said: "These number plates are a luxury that the council can ill afford at a time when it is facing spending cuts.

"It's a disgrace that they're trying to hang onto these at a time when some taxpayers in the area are struggling to make ends meet.

"The plates are an indulgence and they should sell them off as soon as possible."

Northampton Borough Council leader Brian Markham said the plate is part of the town's heritage.

He said: "If we got £400,000, that would be the equivalent to £4 off the average council tax bill for a whole year for the council taxpayers of Northampton. But that is only one year, next year you can't sell the number plate again.

"More importantly, that number plate is part of our heritage – not just for the council but for the town – we've owned that since the first number plates for cars."




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China bans unlucky number plates

China turned superstitious by barring the issuance of number plates bearing the "unlucky" number '4', causing a mixed reaction from the public.

Beijing's traffic management bureau has stopped issuing car registration plates bearing the number as many Chinese consider it to be unlucky because it sounds similar to the word for death.

From this week, drivers in the capital who bought new cars no longer need to make a special request to omit the number, as it has been removed from the registration plate choosing system by the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau.

The BTMB have stated that the decision was made because number plates bearing a '4' have always been unpopular.






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10 O number plate sells for £92,920 at DVLA auction

The final day of DVLA Personalised Registrations autumn auction got off to a great start when the registration 10 O sold for 92,920 pounds.

The winning bid was made by phone during at a tense and busy auction room at Rudding Park, near Harrogate so mystery still surrounds the successful bidder.

10 O is the latest in the O series released by DVLA Personalised Registrations in January 2009 to mark its 20th anniversary. Since then, more than 1.62 million pounds has been generated from this series alone.

While DVLA staff celebrated the sale of 10 O, the precise 92,919.69p (73,500 hammer price plus VAT, buyers premium and assignment fee) still falls short of the 210,000 pounds paid for 1 O in January 2009.

In total, the sale of personalised number plates by the DVLA has raised £1.6 billion. All money raised goes to the Treasury.





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£26,000 personalised number plate for daughter aged 11

Doting dad Harbhajans Bains has spent 26,000 pounds on personalised car number plates for his daughter - aged 11.

Mr Bains bid at a DVLA auction for 99A, the year she was born and the first letter of her name, six years before Amun can even start learning.

The 41 year old pharmacist, of Little Aston, Sutton Coldfield, said: "My limit was to be 15,000 pounds but Amun had told all her friends. And I can't resist a unique plate."

Harbhajans now has 24 number plates, including ones for other kids Jeevun, 10, and Bahadar, 8.




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RIP Sir Norman Wisdom

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