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The 'DVLA' () is the organisation of UK Government responsible for maintaining a database of drivers and a database of vehicles in Great Britain; its counterpart in Northern Ireland is the Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA). The agency issues driving licences, organises collection of vehicle excise duty (also known as ''road tax'' and ''road fund licence'') and sells "cherished marks" (private number plates).
From 2008, the collection of vehicle excise duty for Northern Ireland will transfer from the DVA at Coleraine to the DVLA^[1].
The DVLA is an executive agency of the Department for Transport and they are directly responsible to the Minister of State, one of the department's ministerial team. The current Minister is Dr Stephen Ladyman, MP. The current Chief Executive of the agency is Clive "Drive" Bennett, appointed in 2000.^[2]
The DVLA is based in Swansea, south Wales, with a prominent 16 storey computer centre building in Clase and offices in Swansea Vale. It was previously known as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre (DVLC). The agency also has a network of offices around Great Britain, known as the Local Office Directorate.
DVLA introduced Electronic Vehicle Licensing (EVL) with customers now being able to pay vehicle excise duty online and by phone - www.direct.gov.uk/taxdisc. However, customers still have the option to tax their vehicles via the Post Office.

Contents

DVLA database

DVLA letter bombs

References

External links

DVLA database

The vehicle register held by DVLA is used in many ways. For example, by the DVLA itself to identify "untaxed" vehicles, and by outside agencies to identify keepers of cars entering central London who haven't paid the congestion charge, or who drive too fast on a road that has speed cameras by matching the cars to their keepers using the DVLA database. In 2004 the DVLA made the vehicle database available to the private sector (and any person who can demonstrate a legitimate need for the data). This includes automated video camera parking control systems such as those used at larger Tesco supermarkets. This controversial move has been widely criticised in the UK press and in parliament as being a threat to privacy. The current DVLA vehicle register was built by EDS under a £5 million contract signed in 1996, with a planned implementation date on October 1998, though actual implementation was delayed by a year. It uses a client-server architecture and uses the vehicle identification number, rather than the registration plate, as the primary key to track vehicles, eliminating the possibility of having multiple registrations for a single vehicle, a scam known as ghosting. However, the accuracy of the data held remains a continuing problem.
The database of drivers, developed in conjunction with the Police Information Technology Organisation and delivered in March 2002, enables the police to verify driving licences via the Police National Computer, and holds details of around 20 million photocard driving licences.

DVLA letter bombs

Main articles: 2007 United Kingdom letter bombs

On 7 February2007, a letter bomb was sent to the DVLA in Swansea and injured four people. It is suspected that this is part of a group of letter bombs sent to other organisations that deal with the administration of motoring charges and offences, such as Capita in central London, which was targeted a few days earlier.
Miles Cooper, aged 27, a school caretaker, was arrested on 19 February2007, and charged on 22 February.

References

1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6247597.stm
2. Executive board biographies

External links

★ http://www.dvla.gov.uk accessed 13 June 2006

★ http://www.direct.gov.uk/motoring accessed 13 May 2006

★ DVLA runs into IT trouble accessed 13 May 2006

★ Database to nail rogue drivers accessed 13 May 2006

★ DVLA sells your details to criminals accessed 13 May 2006