§ Bob RussellTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures are taken by the Driver and188W Vehicle Licensing Agency to recover unpaid licence fees from vehicle owners; and if he will make a statement. [116316]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe Agency relies heavily on police and traffic wardens to submit reports of unlicensed vehicles being used or kept on a public road. The Agency has a number of wheelclamping units and Automatic Number Plate Reader (ANPR) units which also identify unlicensed vehicles.
From 22 May, a telephone hotline has been established to allow members of the public to report unlicensed vehicles. This is currently operating in the London area and will be rolled out nationwide in a phased programme.
From June this year, 23 police forces will also trial the use of ANPR cameras to detect unlicensed vehicles on the road.
With effect from January 2004, a new scheme of Continuous Registration will be introduced which will require a vehicle to be licensed or have a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) declaration in force at all times. Where this is not the case, enforcement action will be taken directly from the DVLA vehicle record.
All offenders reported to DVLA are either offered the opportunity to settle the matter out of court (which contains a penalty based to the amount of duty evaded) or face prosecution in which case, the court will order the outstanding duty to be paid on conviction.