Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of drivers on the roads without the required (a) licence (b) insurance.

When the police stop a vehicle then a driving licence check is a routine enquiry which they can make. If the police have reasonable grounds to suspect someone of driving a vehicle not in accordance with their driving licence, or without insurance then a vehicle may be seized.

Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE) has enabled action to be taken against those who keep a vehicle without insurance. CIE allows uninsured vehicles to be identified from a comparison of the DVLA’s vehicle register and the Motor Insurance Database of insurance policies managed by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB). Keepers of vehicles which appear to be uninsured are sent reminder letters. Those who take no action receive a fixed penalty of £100, followed by enforcement action including prosecution. Since CIE’s introduction in 2011, uninsured vehicles have fallen from 1.4 million to 1 million.

It supplements enforcement action by the police on the road, where from 2005 police have had the power to seize vehicles that are being driven without insurance.