Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the time frame is for local authorities to (a) respond and (b) take action in regard to a report of an untaxed or abandoned vehicle on a public road.

Where it appears to a local authority that a vehicle in its area is abandoned, it has a duty to remove the vehicle, unless (in the case of vehicles not on a carriageway) the cost of moving the vehicle to the nearest carriageway would be unreasonably high. There is no statutory definition of ‘abandoned’, and it is for councils to determine whether any particular vehicle has been abandoned.

There is no statutory time frame for responding to reports of abandoned vehicles. Where a vehicle is abandoned on land that is ‘occupied’, the local authority must give the occupier 15 days’ notice that it proposes to remove the vehicle. The local authority is not entitled to remove the vehicle if the occupier objects to the proposal within that period. If the occupier gives the local authority permission to remove the vehicle during this 15-day period, the vehicle may be removed immediately, but there is no statutory time-frame for doing so.

It is up to councils to decide how best to meet their statutory duties in respect of abandoned vehicles, and how to prioritise this against other local services.