June 28, 2026

2023 to 2025 DVLA & Police LoS Data

Are DVLA vehicle theft figures telling the whole story?

Most published vehicle theft statistics rely on DVLA data. That is understandable. Why approach 40-plus police forces and other contributors to the Police National Computer Lost/Stolen register when one request to the DVLA can produce one dataset in one format?

  • The problem is that DVLA stolen-vehicle figures may not show the full picture.

Some differences are explainable. Timing, reporting methods, vehicle categories and administrative processes will always create some variation. But the scale of the gap between police-recorded theft figures and DVLA stolen-vehicle notifications raises a more serious question:

  • Are some stolen vehicles disappearing from the official record?

We undertook the more difficult route: seeking data from individual constabularies, collating the responses and comparing them with DVLA and Home Office figures. The data below relates to all vehicles, not just cars.

The results are concerning.

Several constabularies have indicated that vehicle-theft data is incomplete or inconsistently recorded. In some cases, fields are not mandatory. Some forces have also referred to resourcing pressures. That matters because stolen-vehicle markers on the PNC can be automatically deleted — “weeded” — if the theft report is not confirmed within the required period.

If that happens, a vehicle may have been reported stolen, may still be unrecovered, yet may no longer appear as stolen on the PNC, DVLA systems, ANPR or vehicle provenance checks.

That is not a minor administrative issue. It affects victims, insurers, innocent purchasers, recovery prospects, and the reliability of national vehicle-crime statistics.

A summary of the potential extent of this “weeding” issue can be read here.

In January 2026, we wrote to the Home Office asking for the discrepancy to be assessed and explained. The Home Office confirmed the matter was being considered with the NPCC. Several months later, no meaningful update has been provided.

We have therefore referred the issue to the National Audit Office as a ‘Potential Assurance Failure Affecting National Stolen-Vehicle Data‘.

The question is simple:

How many vehicles reported stolen are no longer recorded as stolen — and who is checking?

The following records relate to England & Wales. Some difficulties were encountered, but where information could not be obtained from a DVLA source of LoS data, the equivalent ‘police’ data was disregarded. All participating constabularies, except one (West Yorkshire), provided data for the requested periods. Excluded from the DVLA & police data were Army, NCA, NaVCIS and ‘unknown’ – read more here.

YearDVLAPolice# Difference% Difference
2023101,551133,28831,73731.25%
202495,589127,62932,04033.52%
202586,113115,08428,97133.64%
  • Is ‘WEEDING‘ a significant cause of the discrepancy?

The above record totals are derived from a FoIA to the DVLA for all ‘constabulary’ statistics and individual FoIA requests to constabularies. The ‘police figures’ are slightly skewed by W. Yorkshire police, which only provided information for the first 7 months of 2025, i.e. the discrepancy is slightly larger than conveyed above.

Individual constabulary figures are compared here:

ConstabularyPolice 2023DVLA 20232023 differencePolice 2024DVLA 20242024 differencePolice 2025DVLA 20252025 difference% difference
Avon and Somerset Police33592,2361,1233,3322,3121,0203,2012,34785426.68%
Bedfordshire Police15691,1404291,7401,2355051,27989338630.18%
Cambridgeshire Constabulary1,4461,0683781,2418893521,36898638227.92%
Cheshire Constabulary101577723893374918480860220625.50%
City of London Police261313201191991052.63%
Cleveland Police13195158041,03636567197341455957.45%
Cumbria Constabulary36218317934115418730111618561.46%
Derbyshire Constabulary1,9711,4744971,7451,1336121,6741,03164338.41%
Devon and Cornwall Police1,5287168121,4577087491,4371,3041339.26%
Dorset Police1,1145285861,14460853692748544247.68%
Durham Constabulary1,2876456421,1976705271,07759847944.48%
Essex Police5,2614,8434185,0484,2877614,2513,67957213.46%
Gloucestershire Constabulary1,1913708211,2153808351,10035574567.73%
Greater Manchester Police7,4616,0971,3646,0594,7261,3335,6954,0081,68729.62%
Hampshire Constabulary3,1871,9971,1903,0691,7161,3532,7491,5571,19243.36%
Hertfordshire Constabulary2,2191,6965232,5121,8716412,0881,59948923.42%
Humberside Police1,3921,0813111,3019903111,22786935829.18%
Kent Police3,5912,3921,1993,7672,5161,2513,2542,0891,16535.80%
Lancashire Constabulary2,5501,6978532,6011,7638382,4381,55488436.26%
Leicestershire Police1,5841,612-281,3831,560-1771,3181,494-176-13.35%
Lincolnshire Police78357820575051723377859818023.14%
Merseyside Police2,7541,3551,3992,2551,0181,2371,8215231,29871.28%
Metropolitan Police Service33,52728,4325,09533,78027,4646,31631,83724,7697,06822.20%
Norfolk Constabulary55726029767930837169136932246.60%
North Yorkshire Police82263818472659812861846115725.40%
Northamptonshire Police1,0016813201,02669832891760731033.81%
Northumbria Police2,6131,3631,2502,1251,1359901,9191,01090947.37%
Nottinghamshire Police2,2521,2939592,0771,1709072,1611,31884339.01%
South Yorkshire Police4,9763,7591,2174,7443,4201,3244,5322,7211,81139.96%
Staffordshire Police2,1241,9331911,9722,015-431,5881,843-255-16.06%
Suffolk Constabulary53629024657829528355434520937.73%
Surrey Police2,0881,5255631,8141,2585561,5931,13745628.63%
Sussex Police2,5151,6089072,4391,5099302,0281,23779139.00%
Thames Valley Police4,0242,8411,1833,6082,6071,0013,1612,34182025.94%
Warwickshire Police1,1811,132491,1841,189-51,2841,188967.48%
West Mercia Police1,5971,3562411,7001,4772231,3881,22816011.53%
West Midlands Police14,82213,4641,35813,81112,84496713,05811,2301,82814.00%
West Yorkshire Police6,7565,1431,6136,0174,5691,4483,1704,399-1,229-38.77%
Wiltshire Police5094041055664311354693917816.63%
British Transport Police50711938855513042547212534773.52%
Dyfed-Powys Police2869419229910919034714420358.50%
Gwent Police1,1704487221,1613757861,09142067161.50%
North Wales Police44816927949714135644711533274.27%
South Wales Police2,0081,5864222,1251,6694561,9761,60537118.78%
Total133,288101,55131,737127,62995,58932,040115,08486,11328,971

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