Abandoned Vehicles (Hansard, 21 February 2000)

§ Mr. Edward Davey
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent research his Department has commissioned into the (a) number of abandoned vehicles on public highways and private property and (b) cost of the removal of such abandoned vehicles by local authorities. [110416]

§ Mr. Mullin
My Department has commissioned no recent research into either (a) the number of abandoned vehicles on public highways and private property or (b) the cost of the removal of such abandoned vehicles by local authorities.

§ Mr. Edward Davey
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to meet representatives of the Local Government Association to discuss the abandoning of vehicles on public highways and private property. [110410]

§ Mr. Mullin
My Department has regular meetings with representatives of the Local Government Association to discuss a range of waste management issues.

§ Mr. Green
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans he has to reduce the number of cars abandoned with no known owner; and if he will make a statement. [111125]

§ Mr. Hill
A number of measures to improve the accuracy of the DVLA vehicle record have either recently been put into operation or are planned. They include changes to the way in which notification is made when vehicles are sold, increased involvement by the police in enforcing registration procedures and a pilot scheme to enforce registration offences direct from the DVLA record. The Vehicle Crime Reduction Action Team's five year strategy document "Tackling Vehicle Crime" recommends a number of further measures intended to improve the accuracy of the DVLA record.

§ Mr. Green
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many cars were abandoned with no known owner in 1999. [111126]

§ Mr. Hill
No information is available on the total number of vehicles that are abandoned. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) records only vehicles notified by the police and local authorities. In 1999, there were 34,860 notifications. It is not possible to discover the706W number of cars abandoned with no known keeper without running a prohibitively expensive search of the DVLA database.