§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will cause an investigation to be made to ascertain how, some 24 hours or more after the police had requested information to be supplied by the general public of the ownership of the motor vehicle used in the Irish Republican Army bombings in London on 20 July, the Swansea computer centre had not been able to supply the information, and eventually this information was obtained from sources other than his Department's computer at Swansea.
§ Mr. David HowellI think the hon. Member may have misunderstood the position. The police did not have occasion to seek the registered particulars of the vehicle from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre. Those particulars were available from normal computerised police records, which are updated daily by DVLC. Their request for information from the public arose because the registered keeper had sold the car at auction shortly before the incident and the police were seeking to establish its subsequent whereabouts.