§ Mr. Bulmerasked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will give details of the difficulties of introducing a scheme of recording mileage in vehicle documentation held at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre.
§ Mrs Chalker[pursuant to her reply, 6 December 1982, c.405]: We are still considering this suggestion with my right hon. and noble Friend the Secretary of State for Trade. There are two important practical constraints about my hon. Friend's suggestion. My Department is preparing to replace the computers at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre. This requires a period of about two years of stability during which changes of the kind suggested by my hon. Friend would not be practicable. Recording vehicle mileage information would also require additional resources not only at DVLC but also at the local offices and the Post Office.
The other constraint is that this apparently straight forward suggestion would not stop the organised and persistent offender supplying false information on disposal or acquisition of a vehicle.
The Department would be unable to confirm the information provided by a check on every vehicle concerned.