It is “insulting” that Scottish councils retain ownership of many private number plates, says Green Party MSP Patrick Harvie.
Many councils are struggling in the current economy, MSP Harvie sees the license plates as an unnecessary luxury that can be sold to raise funds.
Number plates like S 0 and S 10, currently owned by Edinburgh council, are believed to be very valuable and could fetch a lot of money at auction.
“It is extraordinary that they wouldn’t at least look at what price they’d get when times are tough,” said Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow.
Most of the number plates are handed down from old district councils. For some it is a matter of tradition and civic pride that the number plates are kept where they are.
Many of the 23 highlighted number plates are worth in access of £50,000, but some are speculated to be worth as much as £500,000.
Similar requests to sell off the assets were brought forward in 2010 and again earlier this year, once again lead by the Scottish Green Party.
Steve Burgess, Green party councillor for Southside/Newington, said: “With council funding being cut and public facilities being closed down, now is the right time to sell off the council’s truly useless assets and raise much needed funds.
“Any council hoarding a number plate worth half a million pounds has got its priorities wrong.”
