§ Mr. Cohenasked the Secretary of State for Transport how many disclosures of names and addresses took place from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre last year; for what purpose those disclosures took place; and which organisations received those names and addresses.
§ Mr. Michael SpicerIn 1985 there were about 61½ million disclosures of names and addresses from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre. About 5½ million of these disclosures were from the vehicles register and about 1 million from the drivers' register. As far as the vehicles register is concerned the main information was supplied for use in connection with the investigation of an offence to the police, local authorities and other enforcement agencies. In a small proportion of cases information was supplied to those who showed "reasonable cause" for their inquiry as required by regulations and who paid the prescribed fee. Information was also supplied from the vehicle register to vehicle manufacturers for the purpose of safety related recalls. Release of information from the drivers' register only occurs for purposes directly related to driver licensing, road safety and enforcement. This is supplied in the main to the police with a small proportion to other Government Departments and statutory licensing authorities.