Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the accuracy of vehicle registration plate data held by the DVLA.

The latest available data shows more than 93 per cent of vehicle keepers are contactable and traceable from the information held on the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)’s record. Of the remainder, around six per cent are in the motor trade where a vehicle may legitimately have no registered keeper.

The DVLA works to reduce the number of vehicles that have no registered keeper or are unlicensed through a combination of enforcement, collaboration and education. The DVLA works with more than 80 local authorities and police forces to identify and act on vehicles which do not have a registered keeper. The DVLA also deploys Automatic Number Plate Recognition vehicles to detect unlicensed or unregistered vehicles and sends reminders as well as promoting easier payment options to encourage people to license their vehicle on time.

There are long-standing legislative requirements in place to ensure that keepers notify the DVLA when they buy and sell a vehicle. It is an offence to use a vehicle that does not have a registered keeper.