PRESS RELEASE

17January 2003

Ottaway: South Croydon faces growing abandoned car menace
independent report predicts 400 more dumped cars a year across South Croydon

Richard Ottaway, Conservative Member of Parliament, today warned that South Croydon faced soaring numbers of abandoned cars being dumped. An independent report by the Institute for European Environmental Policy has warned that new EU directives and Government inaction will result in a quarter of a million more cars being abandoned or torched each year - equivalent to an extra 380 cars per Parliamentary constituency. An estimated 350,000 cars, an average of 530 per constituency, are already dumped each year.

Richard Ottaway said:

"It is not just violent crime that is soaring across South Croydon, but now our streets are getting dirtier and more dangerous. We already knew that the number of burnt out cars across Greater London has soared by over 100% per cent from 1997 to 2000. But this new report predicts that the problem of abandoned cars is going to get even worse.

"European Union directives signed by Labour are to force the cost of car disposal to soar - a bill which is going to be met by car owners and council tax payers. Badly drafted regulations supposed to help the environment will end up worsening urban decay.

"Abandoned cars are hazardous for children and encourage more vandalism and crime in our neighbourhoods. Conservatives believe the whole problem of crime across Croydon must be addressed - from getting more police officers on the streets to tackling smaller scale, quality of life nuisances."

Notes to Editors

The Institute for European Environmental Policy published a report into 'The implications of UK Implementation of the End-of-Life Vehicles Directive' on 14 January. Their briefing is available at: http://www.ieep.org.uk/. The report estimates 250,000 more cars will be dumped each year. Across 659 Parliamentary constituencies, this would suggest an average of 380 extra per constituency per year.

The new EU End of Life Vehicles Directive is forcing the cost of disposing cars to soar. The value of scrap metal has plummeted, meaning owners have to pay scrap merchants to take their cars off them and be dismantled. The report warns, "this situation has already lead to a substantial upsurge in the number of abandoned cars and the imposition of an extra charge to implement the requirements of the ELV directive will perhaps triple the charge for disposal, pushing it up towards £100 in some areas."

The report attacks the Government's lack of action - "the Government has concluded from this that the do-nothing option (i.e. making last owners pay for disposal) remains the cheapest thing to do" and warns, "if the number of abandonments rises sharply, it will be local government and hence ultimately the Treasury, which has to face the treatment costs… it will be the taxpayer who ultimately foots the bill."

Local Statistics

The number of malicious vehicle fires - a key indicator for the number of incidents of burnt out cars in a local community - shows the problem of abandoned cars is soaring. The most recent local statistics (source: HC Debs, col. 204W, 5 November 2002), obtained by Eric Pickles MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Local Government & the Regions, shows the increase in malicious vehicle fires from 1997 to 2000 below.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/cm021105/text/21105w17.htm#21105w17.html_wqn9

Nationally, recent figures from Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Fire Statistics Estimates United Kingdom 2001, 17 December 2002 (p.19), reveals that from 2000 to 2001, the number of malicious vehicle fires rose by an additional 12 per cent. http://www.safety.odpm.gov.uk/fire/rds/2001/index.htm. Local figures from 2000 to 2001 are not yet available.

ENDS