Driving Licence / Vehicle Registration address for Travelling Community

Our Ref: DV 08 C40

Dear Mr Jackson

Freedom of Information Act 2000

Thank you for your request for information which may be held by this
Agency on what policies and procedures are in place for dealing with
members of the Travelling Community, or other drivers who do not have a
permanent fixed address. Your request was received on 3 September 2008 and
I am dealing with it under the terms of the above legislation. I aim to
let you have a response by 1 October 2008.

The leaflet enclosed gives a brief outline of the legislation and the
procedures we will follow in handling your request.

<<FOI Leaflet.pdf>>

As indicated in the leaflet, you may have to pay for information in
certain circumstances. If a fee is required, I will write to you to advise
of the amount which must be paid before I can respond to your request for
information.

If you have any queries about this letter, please do not hesitate to
contact me. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any
future communications.

Yours sincerely

Janice Tennant
Information Management Unit
DVA
County Hall
Castlerock Road
Coleraine
Tel: 028 7035 9989

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Our ref DV08C40

19 September 2008

Dear Mr Jackson

Freedom of Information Act 2000

I am writing to confirm that the Agency has now completed its search for
the information about policies and procedures for members of the
travelling community and other drivers in terms of driving licences or
vehicle registration who do not have a fixed address, which you requested
on 3 September 2008.

Driving Licences

DVA does not have a policy relating specifically to the handling of
applications for driver licences made by members of the Travelling
Community or other persons without a permanent fixed address.

It is a requirement of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 (the
1981 Order) that applicants for Northern Ireland driving licences meet the
relevant residency requirement. In the majority of cases, the applicant
must reside in Northern Ireland. In practical terms, the residency
requirement is met by the provision of a postal address within Northern
Ireland to which the driving licence will be issued. Where doubts arise
as to whether the applicant lives at the address supplied, he may be asked
to provide additional information. Each case will be dealt with on an
individual basis.

A valid address is a recognised postal address (excluding business
premises) in Northern Ireland at which the applicant for a driving licence
lives at the time of the application. It is a further requirement of the
1981 Order that the holder of a licence must inform the Department if the
details relating to the holder's address cease to be correct.

Vehicle Registration

Each member state issues Registration Certificates in accordance with
Directive 1999/37. Each Member state will recognise a Registration
Certificate issued in another Member State.

Each Member State issues Registration Certificate in accordance with the
Directive under its own national law. NI issues Registration Certificates
(V5C's) under the provision of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act
1994 (as amended) (VERA) and the Roads Vehicles (Registration and
Licensing) Regulations 2002. That certificate must be in the form
prescribed by the Directive. The Directive provides that the Certificate
must contain the name or business name of the keeper and his/her address
in the Member State of registration on the date of issue of the document.

DVA is charged with maintaining and improving the integrity and accuracy
of the Vehicle Register on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport.
The Register maintained at DVA is based on vehicles and their keepers. The
register is essentially maintained to assist in revenue collection, road
safety and law enforcement. Therefore it is essential for these purposes
that the vehicle record shows the correct name and address of the person
in possession of, and responsible for, the vehicle.

Motorists who want to become keepers of a vehicle registered with DVA must
by law supply a NI address. The requirement for a NI address is in place
to ensure that vehicle excise duty can be effectively collected. It also
ensures that in most cases drivers of cars can be contacted quickly by the
likes of the police, or other enforcement bodies.

The information supplied to you above continues to be protected by the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use it for your
own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and for
the purposes of news reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial
publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder. Most
documents supplied by Driver & Vehicle Agency will have been produced by
government officials and will be Crown Copyright. You can find details on
the arrangements for re-using Crown Copyright from the Office for Public
Sector Information at:

[1]http://www.opsi.gov.uk/click-use/index.htm

Information you receive which is not subject to Crown Copyright continues
to be protected by the copyright of the person, or organisation, from
which the information originated. You must ensure that you gain their
permission before reproducing any third party (non Crown Copyright)
information.

Under the terms of the legislation, if you are unhappy with this response
you have the right to seek a review by the Department in the first
instance, within two calendar months of the date of this letter. If you
wish to do so, please write to

Director of Corporate Services
Room 6.15
Department of the Environment
Clarence Court
Adelaide Street
Belfast BT2 8GB

If after such a review you are still unhappy with the response, you have
the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner who will undertake an
independent review.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me at telephone
number 028 703 41548. Please remember to quote the reference number above
in any future communications.

Yours sincerely

S Moore
DVA Information Unit
Driver & Vehicle Agency
County Hall
Coleraine
BT51 3TA

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