Dear Sir or Madam,

Can you please tell me what information DVLA holds in relation to
dealing with drivers of no fixed abode and vehicles registered to
same.

This should include any public leaflets, forms, webpages or other
materials aimed at such drivers, and also any internal guidelines,
manuals, memos, etc instructing staff on how to deal with requests
or enquiries from same.

Where possible please include copies of these materials, or
instrutions on how to obtain them.

Yours faithfully,

Richard

Dear Mr Jackson,

Not sure if I already sent you this last week? Apologies if I didn't

Cheryl James
Customer Complaints/D12
01792 788142
Cheryl. [email address]

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Dear Cheryl,

Thank you for your response. I find it rather confusing however, as
you initially state that you hold no information and provide no
advice relating to this, but then go on to claim that you *do* have
a policy relating to this: namely that not only must an address be
provided, but that "Post Office boxes are not considered viable
address details". The reasons given for this would appear to apply
equally to short term rental accommodations, including, for
example, hotels, which leads me to suspect that there may also be
other similar such restrictions.

Clearly whatever policy is in place on what constitutes an
acceptable address must be documented somewhere, and there must be
some information provided to staff on how to relay this information
to drivers who attempt to provide either no address at all or an
address you class as invalid. I would therefore ask that you
provide whatever information you hold in this regard.

Can you please also clarify whether this policy is based on
legislation, and, if so, direct me to it, or is purely an
operational decision taken by DVLA, and, if so, provide me with any
information you have relating to how and when this decision was
taken or relating to any occasion when the decision was revisted or
reconsidered.

Yours sincerely,

Richard

Dear Sir or Madam,

Can you please provide an update on my request?

Yours sincerely,

Richard

Mr Jackson

A response is currently being drafted and a substantive response will
be sent to you in due course.

Regards
DVLA FOI Team

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13:34 >>>
Dear Sir or Madam,

Can you please provide an update on my request?

Yours sincerely,

Richard

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Dear Mr Jackson

Apologies for the delay in replying. I have just returned from annual leave. I am sorry if my reply was confusing. I told you that we provide no advice to drivers of no fixed abode simply because we cannot cannot issue documents unless we have a proper residential address. I explained that this was necessary for law enforcement purposes.

By virtue of Article 7 of the second European Directive on driving licences (91/439/EEC), a licensing authority in a Member State may only issue a licence to drivers who have their normal residence within the territory of that Member State.

The format of the driving licence is set out in the second European Directive on Driving Licences, although the decision to include the address on the face of a licence was a matter left for the discretion of individual Member States. It was decided to retain it on licences issued in Great Britain as it has always been included here and is considered valuable by the police.

DVLA requires drivers to provide a residential address so that a driving licence (or Registration Document) issued in Great Britain shows the driver's permanent abode in England, Scotland or Wales. Our literature (for example leaflet INF1D - How to fill in your driving licence application form) states (page 4) that the address provided must be a residential one and that we do not accept PO Box Number addresses.

We and the Police need to be able to contact the driver if necessary. It has been our practice to ask for a residential address since we first started issuing driving licences in 1973 and this requirement was, in fact, already in place before the transfer of responsibility for driver and vehicle licensing from the local authorities. As such, I am unable to tell you when the original decision to require a residential address was made. Just that the decision predates DVLA. We have not revisited this decision because, as explained above, there are good reasons for needing to hold a residential address on our records. A short term rental accommodation can be regarded as a person's residential address as can a hotel. Either can be used if it is where the individual is currently living. Both can be considered fixed abodes even if the address is only going to be current for a few months. It Is is, of course, a legal requirement for individuals to then tell us if they leave that address and to provide us with another residential address where they can be contacted.

Yours sincerely

Cheryl James

Cheryl James
Customer Complaints/D12
01792 788142
Cheryl. [email address]

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Dear Cheryl,

Thank you for your further response. However it has merely served
to confuse matters yet further as you appear to be conflating two
completely different matters: that of an address as an abode, and
that of an address for contact.

As you are no doubt aware, unlike some other countries, the UK does
not have a concept of a "registered address" for an individual -
only for corporate entities. In your initial response you stated
that the requirement was simply for an address at which the
driver/keep could be contacted. Yet, in your latest reply this has
mutated into issues of "residence" and "permanent abode". The
latter of these I do not even believe is a concept that exists
under UK law in the form you seem to imply, with individuals being
free to hold multiple addresses or none.

There are many people in the UK, such as those, for example, in the
Traveller community, who are essentially nomadic, and who are
certainly permanently resident in the UK (for purposes of complying
with EC law) but who hold no fixed address. I find it difficult to
believe that those are all either driving unlawfully or are
constantly updating DVLA with new addresses.

I also note that despite me requesting details of what information
you hold relating to this area, you merely mention one form in
passing purely as an example, rather than actually answering my
request.

I would therefore seek a full internal review of this matter.

Yours sincerely,

Richard

Dear Mr Jackson

I acknowledge your request for an internal review. Arrangements are in hand to get this underway.

Cheryl James
Customer Complaints/D12
01792 788142
Cheryl. [email address]

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Dear Mr Jackson,

Please see attached acknowledgment letter,

Yours Sincerely,

Mrs Jackie Manser-Thomas

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Dear Mr Jackson,

Please see attached letter,

Yours Sincerely,

Mrs Jackie Manner-Thomas

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