DVLA’s knowledge of parking operator conduct contrary to law

The request was partially successful.

Duncan McKenzie

Dear Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency,

1 Please provide copies of information provided to the DVLA by member(s) of the public that evidenced private car parks being managed by operators whose parking signs do not have the necessary express consent of a local planning authority to be displayed, and also evidenced to the DVLA that this misconduct is a criminal offence which is plainly unlawful conduct in clear breach of the ATA codes, and in breach of DVLA’s KADOE Service Contracts, breaches of either precluding operator entitlement to keeper data held by the DVLA.

2 Please provide copies of DVLA correspondence, both internal and with ATAs, that followed receipt of such information. Any consultation documentation with legal advisers that may also have arisen at the time is not required so the Public Interest Test does not arise in relation to this request.

3 The DVLA’s response to a WDTK FOI request of a Mr Denver on 13th May 2016 (ref FOIR5273) about a related matter (ref FOIR4392) made the astonishing admission that the DVLA’s Elizabeth M Symons merely ‘happened to remember having had a phone call’ with ParkingEye, while failing to have recorded her discussion properly documented in any manner whatsoever. On the basis that the important subject matter of her phone call will not have arisen from some night-time dream, please provide copies of documents that informed Ms Symons of the matter then in issue.

Yours faithfully,

Duncan McKenzie

FOI, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Dear Mr McKenzie

Thank you for your e-mail requesting information. The DVLA are dealing with your request under the terms of The Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Your request has been given reference number: FOIR8471.

You should expect to receive a reply to your request by 3 July.

If you have any further questions or enquiries on this request please quote the reference number.

Regards

Freedom Of Information
Strategy, Policy & Communications Directorate | C2W | DVLA | Swansea | SA6 7JL
Twitter: @dvlagovuk

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FOI, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

2 Attachments

Dear Mr McKenzie

 

Please find attached the response to your Freedom of Information request.

 

Regards

Mark

 

Freedom of Information

Strategy, Policy & Communications Directorate | C2 | DVLA | Swansea | SA6
7JL

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Go to [2]www.gov.uk/vehicletax

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Duncan McKenzie

Dear Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's handling of my FOI request 'DVLA’s knowledge of parking operator conduct contrary to law'.

You have failed to respond properly to Requests 2 and 3. A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/d...

The response to Request 3 relating to a previous response now confirms an alarming lack of DVLA proper procedure in responding to information of substantial importance to DVLA activity. This Request 3 may now be regarded as settled.

I now require a review of my Request 1. Request 1 did not enquire information relating to “complaints upheld by the DVLA in the last 12 months”. Nor did it request the DVLA’s opinion relating to terms and conditions displayed on parking signs, which has no relevance to Request 1.

REPEAT OF REQUEST 1. I am assured that the DVLA has been provided with evidence from at least one member of the public that private car parks are being operated with parking signs that require the consent of local planning authorities to display them but do not have it. Also, that the DVLA has been provided with evidence to confirm that this misconduct of parking operators is a criminal offence which, for being unlawful, obviously breaches the ATA codes of practice and breaches KADOE Service Contracts both of which require parking operators to comply with all relevant law.

Please either categorically deny having received such information provided by any member of the public, or provide copies of such information that has been received by the DVLA.

REPEAT OF REQUEST 2. Request 2 now requires an appropriate response relating to the information asked for in this repeat of Request 1.

Yours faithfully,

Duncan McKenzie

FOI, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Dear Mr McKenzie

Thank you for your request to an Internal review.

You should receive a response by 10 August, if you have any enquiries please quote FOIR8471 - IR
Regards

Freedom Of Information
Strategy, Policy & Communications Directorate | C2W | DVLA | Swansea | SA6 7JL
Twitter: @dvlagovuk

We can always spot an untaxed car. Tax it or lose it.
Go to www.gov.uk/vehicletax
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Dear FOI,
Your response to this Internal Revue is overdue.
Please deal with it without further delay
Yours sincerely,

Duncan McKenzie

FOI, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Dear Mr McKenzie

Thank you for contacting the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency but due to circumstances beyond our control responses may become late.

We are looking in to your Internal Review and will be getting a reply from us shortly.

regards

DebFreedom Of Information
Strategy, Policy & Communications Directorate | C2W | DVLA | Swansea | SA6 7JL
Twitter: @dvlagovuk

We can always spot an untaxed car. Tax it or lose it.
Go to www.gov.uk/vehicletax
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Dear FOI,
Your response is not late but extremely late, and you have not responded shortly.

Please provide your response without yet more delay.

Yours sincerely,

Duncan McKenzie

Dear FOI,
Your confirmation of a response "shortly" actaully means procrastination. My request for review on 13th July is still unfulfilled.

Please get on with it without more excuses evasion and inaction.

Yours sincerely,

Duncan McKenzie

FOI, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Dear Mr McKenzie

Thank you for your email, apologies that you have not received your Internal Review reply.

This is being dealt with and a response will be sent to you as soon as possible.

Regards

Freedom Of Information
Strategy, Policy & Communications Directorate | C2W | DVLA | Swansea | SA6 7JL
Twitter: @dvlagovuk

We can always spot an untaxed car. Tax it or lose it.
Go to www.gov.uk/vehicletax
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Dear FOI,

On 13th July 2020 (7 MONTHS AGO), when you were already long-time aware of any operational difficulties caused to DVLA staff by the Covid-19 pandemic, you expected a response by 10th August to my request for review of your unsatisfactorily and dubiously-responded FOI request of that date.

On 13th August 2020 (NOW 6 MONTHS AGO) you promised a review response SHORTLY but now obviously with no intention of doing so.

This is the 3rd time I have been obliged to send a time-wasting reminder. Please end this evasion and procrastination and respond without more delay or empty excuses.

Yours sincerely,

Duncan McKenzie

FOI, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

1 Attachment

Please see attached an internal review carried out on connection with your Freedom of Information request, FOIR8471

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Duncan McKenzie

Dear FOI,

This scandalous sham non-response of 2nd March again confirms the DVLA's policy of evasion at all costs.

This farcical 'review', response which was forced to be made after many months only by the instructions of the ICO, is an insult to intelligence.

You failed to answer the original information requests. You did not answer the requests 1 or 2 at all.
You have again deliberately failed to answer the review requests 1 and 2. The original question 3 was NOT part of the review request.

I am still awaiting a complete and honest, if that is possible, review esponse to requests 1 and 2 in the terms of my clearly-stated eview request of 13 July 2020 without any of the unimportant comments made in today's non-response that have nothing to do with my requests. And please deal with it within the next 20 working days.

Yours sincerely,

Duncan McKenzie

Dear FOI,

Please provide your recent response to the ICO in this matter.

Yours sincerely,

Duncan McKenzie

FOI, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Dear Mr McKenzie

Thank you for your email.

I recently wrote to Mr Cawthorne at the Information Commissioner's Office to ask him if he had an email address which I could use to send you the information we hold, which falls within the scope of your request. I understand that he was going to contact you to ask you if you were willing for him to share that with me.

If you could kindly provide me with your email address, I will forward the documentation to you.

Kind regards

Paul Johnson
Senior Team Manager - Freedom Of Information
Strategy, Policy and Communications Directorate | C2/W | DVLA | Swansea | SA6 7JL

Please be aware I am currently working from home and can be contacted via Teams or email

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FOI, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

12 Attachments

Dear Mr McKenzie

In the absence of your personal email address, I am forwarding the attached in response to your latest email, sent via the "whatdotheyknow" webpage (our letter is the first attachment, along with documents A-K as supporting annexes)

I am also copying this to the ICO for information.

Kind regards

Paul Johnson
FOI Team
DVLA

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Dear FOI,

Thank you for your information that was provided only under pressure from the ICO.
Very little of it is information that was provided to the DVLA which evidenced that parking operators operate with illegally displayed parking signs that are in breach of the ATA codes and in breach of the DVLA's KADOE Service Contracts which preclude operator's access to keeper data.
They are almost entirely DVLA responses that repeatedly state the same things that are all beside the point
Yours sincerely,

Duncan McKenzie

Daniel Morris left an annotation ()

That's odd, even after a grossly belated response window the DVLA hasn't provided you with any information regarding the complaints about Smart Parking at the Shopper's World car park in Wind Street Ammanford (in those Annexes). The DVLA received numerous written complaints, from multiple individuals, including one of the pensioners that was being pursued by debt collectors (claiming to act on behalf of Smart Parking).

A lot of the ground-work was done in the open on WhatDoTheyKnow. You can check on how appallingly Carmarthenshire County Council failed to follow their enforcement protocol, and that Deian Harries (Plaid Cymru County Councillor for the ward) couldn't be bothered to even reply to the retrospective planning application notice.

The Information Commissioner should be mindful that the public can use Google, and a calendar, when preparing a Decision Notice.