§ Mr. Dickensasked the Secretary of State for Transport in what circumstances personal details held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre are released to nongovernmental organisations; whether fees are charged for the release of this information; how much annually is collected from these fees; and to what pupose such fees are put.
§ Mrs. ChalkerRegulations made under the Vehicles (Excise) Act 1971 require my right hon. Friend to provide free of charge information from the vehicle register to local authorities and the police for any purpose connected with the investigation of an offence. He must also provide for a fee of £2 the name and address of the registered keeper to anyone—including non-governmental organisations—who shows "reasonable cause" for the request. The general practice for many years has been to regard "reasonable cause" as shown only where inquiries relate to road safety or to criminal or civil law involving the use of a motor vehicle.
There is no similar legal provision about the release of information from the drivers register but information is released under tight controls where road safety or criminal or civil law is involved. The fees from vehicle inquiries meet the cost of providing the service. In 1980–81 the fees totalled over £200,000, of which about £60,000 related to vehicle safety recalls.