NSL has been the DVLA’s enforcement partner since 2013, helping to improve Vehicle Excise Duty compliance. This is achieved through the delivery of a nationwide enforcement service.
Operatives based at our vehicle pounds across the UK use removal and ANPR-enabled vehicles to deliver a dedicated service to the DVLA. This national footprint ensures every postcode is visited at least twice a year as part of our robust enforcement operation.
We use ANPR to capture over 100 million vehicle registration plates every year. They are compared in real-time with the DVLA’s list of untaxed vehicles. Typically, this service identifies over 250,000 untaxed vehicles per annum for prosecution action, of which 80,000 are subsequently immobilised and 50,000 are impounded.
At our PCI-compliant customer contact facility, we collect statutory release fees on behalf of the DVLA via web and telephone payment solutions. We handle around 140,000 telephone and 3,000 written communications every year. Advice is provided on the reasons for enforcement, how to appeal enforcement actions, complaint handling and directing keepers to vehicle pounds to facilitate the release of impounded vehicles.
This service is a key tool for the DVLA to ensure that a fair and consistent enforcement approach is in place in order to deliver increased compliance year on year.
Under current legislation, the Secretary of State can devolve enforcement powers to local authorities allowing them to act against untaxed vehicles.
Local authorities and the DVLA can work in partnership to remove unlicensed vehicles from the roads. Such partnerships provide opportunities for local authorities to raise income from enforcement fees. NSL has the enforcement and vehicle pound infrastructure to enable and support local authorities to successfully deliver this service.
Local Authorities can face challenges with vehicles receiving multiple Penalty Charge Notices which the owners will not pay. Legislation classifies these as Persistent Evaders and local authorities can take enforcement action against the vehicle owners to recover the outstanding payments.
NSL uses the latest data analytics and innovative technologies alongside more established approaches such as on-street intelligence and tracing tools to enable local authorities to develop successful persistent evader strategies that maximise collections.
This integrated approach helps to address a wide range challenges caused by this anti-social behaviour such as:
- Dangerous parking, obscuring the view for other road users.
- Keeping unregistered vehicles on the road.
- Unlawful use of spaces intended for residents, business users and blue badge holders.
- Depriving local authorities of pay and display revenues.
- Foreign registered vehicles – Whilst some Debt Collection Agencies can obtain registered keeper information from foreign vehicle licensing agencies, many do not share data.
- False/Previous DVLA information – Drivers who fail to update the DVLA when they move or who intentionally register vehicles to false addresses.
NSL technology innovations utilises historical persistent evader offence location data. Heat map technology predicts and targets locations and times enabling enforcement activity to be deployed more effectively. The data can be viewed by enforcement officers using tablet computers.
