On 2 July 2026, the Information Commissioner’s Office wrote to confirm that one of my Freedom of Information complaints (W3K7) had been accepted. The letter advised that complaints were then being assigned for investigation approximately seven months after receipt, adding “We are working hard to reduce this timeframe.” On 21 July 2026, I received another…
A former DVLA employee has been jailed after using his trusted access to alter vehicle records and documentation. This was not a minor paperwork offence. Matthew Holloway manipulated DVLA records, obscured vehicle histories, created new V5C logbooks and helped increase vehicle values through falsified documentation. That should concern everyone. DVLA records are relied upon by…
A route many may never hear about. When police seize property that becomes the subject of competing claims, there is a legal mechanism designed to resolve those disputes. Yet many innocent purchasers are never told about it. Some may come away believing the matter ends when the vehicle is taken into police possession. In reality,…
A Freedom of Information request submitted to Staffordshire Police in July 2025 has raised a broader procedural question about how requests are handled over time. The request was initially refused under section 14 (vexatious), maintained at internal review. Months later the response was revised, following ICO involvement, to a position that the information is ‘not…
Read the Form First! If you are applying for a police collision report for insurance or civil litigation purposes, a simple status enquiry could cost you. In at least one force area, the disclosure form states that: ‘Full disclosure will not be provided until a specified future date’. If you submit an email to check…
What is an “Enforced Subject Access Request”? Section 184 of the Data Protection Act 2018 creates a criminal offence known as “enforced subject access.” It is occasionally misunderstood. What Section 184 Actually Does Section 184 makes it an offence for a person to: A “relevant record” is narrowly defined as: Both elements must be present:…
