08/06/2026 – Press Release
There is potentially significant public-interest issue involving Gwent Police, stolen vehicle records, and the reliability of police/DVLA Lost or Stolen (LoS) vehicle data.
In short, comparative data indicates that Gwent Police appear to be among the constabularies with one of the highest discrepancies between police-recorded stolen vehicle figures and DVLA LoS vehicle records. I have placed the figures here:
A concern is that an already identified Police National Computer (PNC) LoS “weeding” issue may be playing a material part.
This is not a new issue. In 2024, following an approach, Gwent Police identified LoS records were being weeded in circumstances where that should not have been occurring.
I have repeatedly tried to assist Gwent Police to understand and address the problem. Instead, I have encountered delay, defensiveness, lack of meaningful complaint updates and, in my view, treatment that has focused more on the person raising the concern than the risk itself.
The consequence, if my concern is correct, is serious: potentially hundreds of vehicles recorded by Gwent Police as stolen may not be recorded as stolen on the PNC and may not have been notified to, or recorded by, the DVLA as LoS.
That has obvious implications for victims, insurers, vehicle provenance checks, ANPR recovery opportunities and public confidence in official vehicle crime statistics.
I am not asking you to accept my interpretation without scrutiny. On the contrary, I believe this is precisely the type of issue that should be put to Gwent Police, the Police and Crime Commissioner, the IOPC and, potentially, national policing bodies. Having done so, I remain without meaningful updates.
I can provide further correspondence, timeline and complaint material if this is of interest.
Relevant links and a concise briefing is set out below.
Kind regards,
- What is weeding? 2023 to 2025 DVLA & Police LoS Data – Car Crime U.K.
- The data discrepancy
- Gwent misrepresent the FoI requests presented – https://carcrime.uk/250829-ico-gwent-police/
- To the Home office – Potential Systemic Under-Recording of Stolen Vehicles
- Gwent police weeding statements
Briefing
Concerns about PNC “weeding”, DVLA records and hundreds of missing stolen vehicle markers.
A public-interest concern has been raised regarding Gwent Police*, stolen vehicle records and the reliability of police/DVLA Lost or Stolen (LoS) vehicle data.
*this may be more widespread however, Gwent police have repeatedly come to my attention
The issue concerns the way in which stolen vehicle reports are recorded and confirmed on national systems.:
Where a vehicle is recorded locally by police as stolen, the expectation is that the Lost/Stolen status should be properly reflected on the Police National Computer and, through the relevant route, at the DVLA. Those records are important because they assist police recovery, ANPR alerts, insurers, vehicle provenance checks, buyers and victims of vehicle theft.
However, comparative data obtained and analysed indicates that Gwent Police are among the constabularies with one of the highest discrepancies between police-recorded stolen vehicle figures and DVLA stolen vehicle records.
The concern is not simply that the figures differ. Some difference between police and DVLA data is explicable. However, the scale of the discrepancy, when considered alongside Gwent Police’s history with the PNC Lost/Stolen “weeding” issue, raises a serious question:
- are stolen vehicle markers being removed, left unconfirmed, or otherwise failing to progress properly through the national data route?
In 2024, Gwent Police had already identified that LoS “weeding” was occurring where it should not have been. The issue should therefore have been treated as a known vulnerability requiring audit, escalation and correction.
Philip Swift, said:
“I am not suggesting that every discrepancy is caused by PNC weeding. But Gwent Police knew there was a weeding problem in 2024. I repeatedly tried to help them address it. If the issue has continued unchecked, then this is not a paperwork problem — it may mean hundreds of stolen vehicles are not showing as stolen on the systems relied upon by police, DVLA, insurers, provenance providers and the public.”
Adding:
“Rather than fix a known vulnerability in the way stolen vehicle records were handled and embracing the assistance, Gwent appears to have treated the person raising the concern as the problem, while the underlying risk to victims, insurers and stolen vehicle data remains unanswered.”
The concern is particularly serious because stolen vehicle records are not merely statistical. If a stolen vehicle is not correctly recorded on national systems, it may be less likely to generate ANPR alerts, less likely to be identified during checks, and less likely to be linked back to the original theft report if it later appears with a false identity, altered plates, or broken-down component parts.
The matter has also become a complaint-handling issue. We have repeatedly asked Gwent Police for meaningful updates, timescales, complaint scope, audit evidence and assurance that the underlying issue has been escalated or resolved. We remain without satisfactory answers.
The issue has wider national significance. Many public reports on vehicle theft rely heavily on DVLA stolen figures because they are easier to obtain and compare than police-force-level data- requiring an approach to 43+ authorities, monitoring, receiving and reconciling data.
If DVLA figures are materially lower than police-recorded theft figures, and if part of that difference arises from unconfirmed or weeded Lost/Stolen markers, public reporting may understate the true scale of vehicle theft.
Questions that now arise include:
- Has Gwent Police audited locally recorded stolen vehicle reports against PNC and DVLA stolen records?
- How many Gwent stolen vehicle records were affected by PNC “weeding” in 2024 and 2025?
- Are two-week and six-week weeding alerts being monitored and actioned?
- If records are being removed from PNC before DVLA notification, how many victims, insurers or vehicle checks may have been affected?
- Has the issue been escalated to the Chief Constable, the Police and Crime Commissioner, the IOPC, the NPCC or the Home Office*?
- Why has Gwent Police not provided clear complaint-handling timescales and audit assurance despite repeated correspondence?
*our submission to the Home Office remains without a substantive response.
We are asking Gwent Police to confirm whether the discrepancy has been audited, whether PNC LoS weeding remains an issue, and whether any affected vehicle records have been identified and corrected.