SORN Decelerations & Failure to re license statistics

Dear Mr Bowen

Thank you for your request of 18 February 2010.

The information you have requested will be reviewed under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and you will receive a response within the statutory 20 working days from the date of receipt. We will endeavour to respond to your request prior to the 20 working days.

Yours sincerely

(Sent unsigned by e-mail)

Mrs H D Bradley
Freedom of Information Champion
Enforcement Directorate

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FOIR 1842/10

Mr D Bowen ([FOI #29185 email])

Dear Mr Bowen

Thank you for your e-mail of 18 February 2010 containing a request for
information under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(FOIA).

The Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) legislation was introduced
in January 1998 and statistics are held on these enforcement cases from
April 1999. However, late licensing ‘penalty notices’ (LLPs) were
only introduced under the Continuous Registration (CR) legislation from
January 2004 which reinforced the SORN legislation. From 2004 we cannot
separate the statistics held between LLPs issued for a failure to
re-license or declare SORN. The CR statistics provided therefore
reflect the ‘total CR umbrella’ of which SORN forms a part.

You asked: “Can you please advise of the following for each month
since the introduction of SORN”:

1. The quantity of SORN declaration forms received by Royal Mail.

This information is not held. In the context of your request only
Royal Mail would hold this specific data.

However, clarification of the information that you wish to receive
would help us to meet your request. Will you please refine your request
by clarifying what you mean by ‘SORN declaration forms received by
Royal Mail”. For instance, do you wish to know the number of V11s
(dual-purpose licence/SORN renewal reminders) or SORN declaration forms
(V890) that DVLA despatched to Royal Mail?

Please note that if I do not receive appropriate clarification of your
information requirements within three months from the date of this
letter, then I will consider this part of your request closed.

2. The quantity of letters confirming receipt of SORN sent out by
yourselves.

This information is held. The Agency introduced an ‘acknowledgement
letter’ service in 5 January 2004 to update vehicle records on receipt
of SORN notifications. The registered keeper can expect to receive
written confirmation within 4 weeks of submitting a notification.
Should the registered keeper not receive an acknowledgement letter they
should contact the Agency's Customer Enquiry Unit to allow DVLA the
opportunity to investigate the matter. The total number of
acknowledgement letters that DVLA sent to Registered keepers is shown in
Annex A.

3. The quantity of failure to relicense penalty forms sent out by
yourselves.

This information is held. We have taken your reference to ‘Failure
to relicense penalty forms’ to relate to the total number of CR cases
created from which LLP’s were issued to vehicle keepers since the
commencement of CR enforcement in March 2004. The information is tabled
in Annex D.

4. The quantity of penalty’s disputed by the vehicle owners.

Whilst this information may be held, in order to determine how many
individuals disputed the penalty we would have to manually interrogate
each individual CR enforcement case to see if the information is held.
Section 12 of the FOIA does not oblige the DVLA to comply with a request
for information where the cost of the request is likely to exceed the
appropriate limit of £600 for provision of information under the FOIA.
This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 3.5 days (or
24 hours) costs at £25.00 per hour. This costing is set out in the
Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees)
Regulations 2004.

However, we do hold the number of complaints received from individuals.
In order to capture formal complaints received DVLA introduced an Agency
Complaints Tracking System (ACTS) in July 2007 to record complaints at
all levels (via the steps indicated in our complaint procedure leaflet
INS101). The total number of CR complaints received by DVLA is tabled in
Annex B. See Point 8.

5. The quantity of disputed cases being resolved in the vehicle owners
favour.

Whilst this information may be held, in order to determine how many
individuals disputed the penalty which was resolved in the vehicle
owners favour, we would have to manually interrogate each individual CR
enforcement case to see if the information is held. Section 12 of the
FOIA does not oblige the DVLA to comply with a request for information
where the cost of the request is likely to exceed the appropriate limit
of £600 for provision of information under the FOIA. This represents the
estimated cost of one person spending 3.5 days (or 24 hours) costs at
£25.00 per hour. This costing is set out in the Freedom of
Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations
2004.

However, we can provide you with information regarding the number of
formal complaint cases where we have agreed with the customer. The ACTS
system recorded this information from August 2008. The table in Annex B
details the number of complaint cases at all levels of the INS101
procedure where we have agreed with the customer following receipt of a
CR complaint. See Point 8.

6. The quantity of disputes/non payments being referred to the Court
and subsequent outcome. ie. How many cases have the DVLA won compared to
vehicle owners.

This information is held. Since the inception of SORN, each month,
DVLA has carried out a check of the vehicle register to identify
vehicles apparently without a valid licence or SORN declaration in
force. Up to the introduction of CR, where a breach of the SORN
legislation was identified, an Out of Court Settlement (OCS) letter was
automatically generated. An OCS is an offer to compound proceedings,
which provides a straightforward and simple means of disposing of the
matter without recourse to Court action. Where an alleged offender has
chosen not to settle, the matter was referred for prosecution at the
Magistrates Courts, and any fines imposed were a matter for the
Magistrates to decide.

The first recorded results relating to breaches of SORN legislation
cover the period from April 1999 until March 2004 when enforcement
action commenced under the CR legislation. Of the cases created the
majority chose to settle the OCS/LLP to avoid Court proceedings. The
SORN and CR statistics are tabled in Annexes C and D.

The number of prosecution cases that DVLA have won compared to vehicle
owners is tabled in Annexes C and D.

Since 2007, the Agency has used Debt Collection Agencies (DCAs) to
pursue outstanding LLP enforcement cases in preference to the County
Court route. Statistics of the number of enforcement cases passed to
DCAs are only available from February 2008. These are also tabled in
Annex E.

7. The quantity of cases being referred to a Bailiff.

This information is not held. DVLA do not employ bailiffs.

8. Quantity of complaints/letters disputing the failure to relicense.

This information is held. CR complaints or appeals statistics are
recorded via ACTS. As explained at the outset 'failure to relicence'
and SORN comes under the ‘CR umbrella’, therefore we cannot set
apart the statistics held between complaints following LLPs issued for a
failure to re-license or declare SORN. The table in Annex B details the
number of complaints received in relation to CR penalties issued in each
month since July 2007 to date.

To obtain statistics prior to July 2007 would require a manual
interrogation of each individual CR enforcement case to determine the
number of those disputed. Whilst DVLA may hold this information,
Section 12 of the FOIA does not oblige the DVLA to comply with a request
for information where the cost of the request is likely to exceed the
appropriate limit of £600 for provision of information under the FOIA.
This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 3.5 days (or
24 hours) costs at £25.00 per hour. This costing is set out in the
Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees)
Regulations 2004.

Please note that the Customer Complaint Statistics shown on DVLA’s
website:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/dvla/contactus/cus...
relate to Step 2 cases only, which level of complaint is addressed to
the Customer Services Manager (CSM) at DVLA Swansea should a matter not
be resolved at a local level. The CSM ensures that the responsible area
sends a full reply within 10 working days.

9. Revenue earned from these penalties.

This information is held. The total revenue received monthly from LLPs
since March 2004 is tabled in Annex F. The statistics provided reflect
the ‘total CR umbrella’ of which SORN forms a part.

The information supplied to you 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 the Driver and Vehicle Licensing 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 on
the Office of Public Sector Information website at:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/click-use/index.htm

If you are unhappy with the way the Agency has handled your request,
you may ask for an internal review. You should contact this email
address.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you
have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. Further guidance of DfT complaints procedures are detailed in
Annex G.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact this email
address, quoting the above reference in any future communications.

Yours sincerely

{Sent unsigned via email}

DVLA Enforcement Directory Customer Service and Compliance Unit

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2010 01:36 >>>
Dear Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency,
Can you please advise of the following for each month since the
introduction of SORN ;

1) The quantity of SORN Decleration forms received by Royal Mail.

2) The quantity of letters confirming receipt of SORN sent out by
yourselves.

3) The quantity of failure to relicense penalty forms sent out by
yourselves.

4) The quantity of penalty's disputed by the vehicle owners.

5) The quantity disputed cases being resolved in the vehicle
owners
favour.

6) The quantity of disputes / non payments being referred to the
Court and subsequent outcome. ie how many cases have the DVLA won
compared to vehicle owners.

7) The quantity of Cases`s being referred to a Bailiff.

8) Quantity of complaints / letters disputing the failure to
relicense.

9) Revenue earned from these Penalties.

Yours faithfully,

Dave

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