10/05/2024 – 2023 MPS & DVLA Vehicle Theft Discrepancy
Dear Metropolitan Police Service (MPS),
Please provide the information the MPS possess about notifications to the DVLA and why the numbers would differ so greatly.
This request follows the observation made https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/v…
‘Please confirm the theft data has been checked & verified. Your records indicate 39,494 vehicles were stolen in 2023. The DVLA theft notifications from the MPS total 27,924 for 2023, a difference of about 40%. The MPS difference alone increases the theft total (all constabularies) by over 10%, from 106,000 to 118,000 i.e. it significantly skews the figures.’
I would not expect this information to be recorded on a case by case basis, but centrally held.
I do not envisage DVLA guidance to vehicle owners whose vehicles are stolen having any bearing. As you have explained, DVLA advice is:
‘The police will tell DVLA about the theft and if the vehicle is found.’
This request is intended to determine why there is an anomaly; you told the DVLA about 28,000 vehicle thefts (DVLA records) but you recorded about 39,500 thefts.
31/05/2025, MPS email:
Please could you provide a link to where you got the DVLA data from as I have searched and cannot find it. Also please confirm that the DVLA data you are referring to covers the date range of 01/01/2023 – 31/01/2024 (which is the date range you requested for your Freedom of Information act request to us)
31/05/2025, response to the MPS:
I have utilized DVLA data for 01/01/2022* to 31/12/2022*. The information was supplied by the DVLA, their reference FoIR 10303, a spreadsheet appendix to the request. The MPS recorded 26,117 vehicles as stolen.
*corrected to 2023
The 2023 DVLA data was provided in their FoIA response FoIR11149:
Jan-23 2,423
Feb-23 2,027
Mar-23 2,302
Apr-23 2,165
May-23 2,453
Jun-23 2,234
Jul-23 2,341
Aug-23 2,344
Sep-23 2,508
Oct-23 2,421
Nov-23 2,461
Dec-23 2,245
total held by DVLA 27,924 for 2023
In an MPS FoIA response, I was informed vehicle thefts totalled 39,494 a substantial difference.
06/06/2024, the MPS responded:
To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within the MPS and DVLA. The searches did not locate any information relevant to your request, therefore, the information you have requested is not held by the MPS.
The reason for this is that we can only provide recorded information, as you are asking why there is a discrepancy between reported vehicle thefts recorded by the MPS and the DVLA, we would need to create new information to answer this.
Further to the above you were informed in the response to 01/FOI/24/037106 sent to you on 10/05/2024 that we cannot compare data sets as quoted below:
‘It is not possible to compare the data as we do not know what parameters other police forces / organisations have used for extracting their data.’
This position still stands and would be the same for the data provided to you by the DVLA.
However after been in contact with the DVLA I can confirm that there is no direct contact between the Police and DVLA when a car is stolen and it is updated via updates on the Police National Computer (PNC). When a vehicle is reported stolen to the Met Call (MO12) will put a ‘lost or stolen’ marker on the vehicle on PNC which is then updated by the DVLA on their systems.
DUTY TO ADVISE & ASSIST
Whilst we cannot assist you further in the MPS with this matter, you may wish to try to submit a Freedom of Information Act request to the DVLA separately to see if they hold recorded information on this matter. Also as the Police National Computer is a Home Office system, you may wish to also submit one to them.
08/01/2026 to the MPS:
Sent: 08 January 2026 10:04
To: ‘MPSDataOffice@met.police.uk’ MPSDataOffice@met.police.uk
Subject: related to – Freedom of Information Request Reference No: 01/FOI/24/037900
I am writing in relation to the attached response previously provided by the Metropolitan Police concerning the discrepancy identified in 2023 between vehicles recorded as lost or stolen (LoS0 by the Metropolitan Police and those recorded as LoS by the DVLA. I wish to be clear at the outset that this is not a request under the Freedom of Information Act, nor is it a request for additional datasets. Rather, I am seeking clarification of process, governance, and escalation, arising directly from the wording of the Met’s own response. In particular, the response states:
“When a vehicle is reported stolen to the Met, Call Handling (MO12) will put a ‘lost or stolen’ marker on the vehicle on PNC which is then updated by the DVLA on their systems.”
To better understand how a material discrepancy could persist considering this statement, I would be grateful if you could clarify the following points:
- PNC–DVLA update mechanism
Please can you confirm whether the update from PNC to DVLA systems is:
i. fully automated via an electronic interface; or
ii. subject to manual intervention, batching, or exception handling. - Update frequency and latency
Please can you confirm whether updates are:
i. real-time or near real-time;
ii. transferred at fixed intervals (e.g. daily); or
iii. event-driven with potential queuing or delay. - Exception handling and reconciliation
Where a PNC LoS marker does not result in a corresponding DVLA LoS record:
i. is there an exception report, reconciliation process, or alert mechanism; and
ii. if so, which organisation (MPS, PNC operators, or DVLA) owns that reconciliation? - Awareness and escalation of the 2023 discrepancy
Following identification of the discrepancy referenced in the attached response:
i. was the issue raised with the DVLA or any national policing body (e.g. PNC governance, NPCC, or relevant operational lead); or
ii. if no escalation occurred, was a determination made that no remedial action was required? - Escalation point within the MPS
Finally, please can you advise the appropriate role or unit within the MPS to whom queries concerning systemic LoS recording integrity and inter-agency data consistency should be escalated, where such matters fall outside routine operational reporting.
I should stress that my interest is in understanding whether the discrepancy identified reflects:
• a technical limitation,
• a governance gap, or
• a known and accepted reconciliation issue between systems.
Any clarification you can provide would be appreciated and would assist in ensuring that the issue is approached accurately and proportionately.