Gwent Police Weeding Timeline

22/05/2024 – [AB12C] The issue of weeding was raised with Gwent police after it was noted a stolen VRM was no longer recorded LoS, it appeared the vehicle had been found. The approach was made via WDTK.

27/05/2024 – Gwent police responded:

  • For clarification our end, the vehicle was reported as stolen on [date] as part of a series of commercial burglaries.The vehicle was circulated as stolen and was not recovered and for clarification has still not been recovered.
  • In relation to the VRM being removed on [date], after 6 weeks unless instructed to do so the stolen marker drops off the system of the vehicle.
  • I was unaware that the relevant department had not been tasked at the time for marker to remain.
  • I was first made aware of this on [date – 04/2024] hence the stolen marker being readded.
  • I was made aware of this by the aggrieved as he was said to have been informed the vehicle was not showing as stolen after trying to make claim,
  • I am assuming you/the company has informed him of this?During this time the vehicle has not been located by Police or has been sighted, please can you advise who has informed you that the vehicle has been recovered?

In answer to the last question posed, mindful of the weeding problem, the loss status of VRMs are re-checked at day 43.

29/05/2024 – a FoIA request of Gwent police ‘Vehicle Theft – PNC LoS Weeding‘

  1. vehicles/VRMs*, make and model, reported stolen with the date of loss and of these:

a. those recovered – the date of recovery associated with the vehicle
b. those that were ‘weeded’** – the date of the weed

  1. the date the weeded VRMs/vehicles were reinstated on PNC LoS

The weeded VRMs/vehicles currently not recorded LoS on PNC will be identifiable from the above as they will have a weed date but no reinstatement date.

  1. Additionally, the process ( receipt of reminders*** and activity) and your policy concerning weeding (as opposed to the PNC manual procedure)

11/07/2024 – Gwent police issued a response to the 29/05/2024 FoIA request – Disclosure 2024/27470 – citing exemptions but suggesting, with regard to s.12 FoIA (cost), a reduction in time scale.

08/2024 – issue (of weeding) identified in August:

21/09/2024 – Gwent’s attention to weeding was explained :

  • an Action plan confirms issue identified in August, 21/09/2024 meeting arranged to discuss with Head of Force Control room, staff notified on 09/10/2024, date of commencement 14/10/2024. (source: FoIA 2024/27796)

25/09/2024 – [AD02A3] another VRM removed from the PNC LoS regsiter with neither insured nor insurer being advised of its recovery. Gwent police also had no record of the car being found, the OiC advising:

  • I have had no information to say that the vehicle has been recovered so I do not know why the marker was removed. It will be re-applied.

30/09/2025 – [AD02A2] yet another Gwent VRM removed from the PNC LoS register

Gwent’s disclosure department then advised:

  • We have liaised with the Vehicle Recovery Team who have confirmed that there is no record of a vehicle being brought into the Gwent Police or South Wales Police vehicle recovery scheme matching that VRM.
  • We can confirm that whilst we have an incident log regarding the theft of the vehicle we have nothing on record that confirms that the vehicle has been recovered.

The reason … the vehicle had not been located, the LoS entry had not been CONFIRMED.

08/10/2024, we wrote to Gwent police about this matter:

Since 30/09/2024, we have repeatedly advised you that the above VRM has been removed from PNC LoS. A further enquiry today, over a week on, confirms the VRM remains ‘clear’ i.e. it is NOT recorded LoS on PNC.

It appears likely either:

  1. The vehicle has bene found and is stored somewhere, incurring storage charges, reducing in value or
  2. The vehicle has not been found in which case the likelihood of this, given the VRM is not recorded as LoS, is reduced, if not negated i.e. the situation benefits the criminals stealing the vehicle!

About ‘2’ this can occur due to weeding i.e. someone failed to ‘confirm’ the theft, that it was ‘weeded’ off. However, as the LoS marker has not bene reinstated, it would appear, subsequent to our notification, others have failed to address this.

If ‘weeded’, please advise any enquiries of the VRM by parties having access to the PNC, ANPR or checks of publicly available service will have returned ‘not stolen’. What enquiries have been made to determine whether such searches have been made? Vehicle Provenance companies should be approached to determine whether they have checked the VRM and provided a ‘clear’ report

We notified the insurer of the ‘recovery’ and wish to update to explain the conduct/delay. We await an update before explaining the claim delay to the insured.

08/10/2024 – Gwent police Phoenix Bureau responded:

  • I have re-added the vehicle to PNC as stolen.

09/10/2024 – Gwent staff advised of the new process; they will CONFIRM the LoS allegation upon notification (source: FoIA 2024/27796):

  • it is common practice for the FCC to add the Stolen marker and confirm as stolen right at the point of contact which makes sense as this ensures records are updated correctly asap.
  • We’re going to move to this way of working from Monday 14/10 to ensure that we contribute to systems being updated asap and support apprehension of offenders of course. Staff are very welcome to start working this way as soon as they receive this briefing. (source)

14/10/2024 – new process commences (source: FoIA 2024/27796):

  • ‘We no longer use the unconfirmed as you are aware and LOS are placed on PNC confirmed from the offset‘ (06/11/2025)
  • ‘The PNC Bureau (PNCB) no longer routinely monitor the DAF (Daily Activity Files) for Unconfirmed Markers.  This process was removed on the basis that the FCR (Force Control Room) Operators adopted the new process whereby all LOST/STOLEN markers were Confirmed at creation.  In the event that the PNCB receive a Niche Task from FCR Operators requesting a marker to be Confirmed, this is duly returned to the FCR Operators to address.’ (24/11/2025

18/10/2024 – In furtherance of FoI 2024/27796, Gwent police provided a spreadsheet; ‘a tasking report from Niche -the information is to go onto PNC; the tasks are submitted by Officers/control room operators‘. The spreadsheet runs from 15/08/2024 to 18/10/2024.

  • 24/11/2025, due to weeding being an ongoing problem, that Gwent’s quick-fix was ineffective, a further request for weeded information was made of Gwent. On this occasion they refused to disclose the data – WDTK ‘UNCONFIRMED PNC LoS Markers For VRMs‘

07/11/2024 – The NPCC circulated a reminder to CONFIRM LoS reports within 48 hours.

11/11/2024 – in response to the NPCC circular, acknowledging that an issue had been identified with Lost or Stolen vehicle reports which had now been resolved. Gwent stated:

  • “This concerned the creation of ‘unconfirmed’ reports within the Force Control Room out of hours, and subsequent PNCB notifications being omitted, resulting in stolen reports dropping off after 42 days.
  • As of 14th October, FCR Operators record the vehicle on as ‘confirmed’ from the offset.
  • If the vehicle has since been found, PNCB remove the stolen report.
  • This revised process is more efficient and ensures that there are no gaps in terms of the management of Lost/Stolen markers.
  • This went live on 14th Oct as FCR Operators required up-skilling.” (source)

Note: What the above does not convey is that manual process would not be monitored by Gwent police – see below.

11/12/2024 – FoIA request of Gwent for further information relating to ‘weeding’.

FoIA 2024/27796 was obstructed & delayed, Gwent police relying upon the ‘vexatious’ exemption. However, this was obviously not the case and the matter was presented to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) who agreed, Decision Notice IC-355444-P4T3 writing:

Whilst Gwent police stated 8 requests had been made in 7 months, the ICO wrote:

  • ‘Whilst there may be some overlap, the actual numbers of FOI requests are minimal relating, to three separate requests over the seven month period.‘

Furthermore, the ICO advised:

  • ‘Gwent Police failed to provide the Commissioner with other supporting information relevant to the complainant’s other requests that were dealt with by the Information Team.‘

The ICO issued its findings:

29/08/2025 – ICO Decision Notice IC-355444-P4T3 is issued:

  • The Commissioner’s decision is that the request was not vexatious and therefore Gwent Police was not entitled to rely upon section 14(1) of FOIA to refuse it.
  • The Commissioner has also found that, on the balance of probabilities, Gwent Police did not provide all of the information held falling within scope of the complainant’s request.

30/09/2025 – Gwent police, in response to an FoIA request, disclose vehicle theft data for 2022 to 30/09/2025. In 2024, they recorded 1,040 vehicle thefts.

  • This is at odds with the DVLA disclosure FoIR12030 who only disclosed records for 375 ‘stolen’ Gwent vehicles.
  • Is ‘weeding’ the cause? Read more here.

07/10/2025 – Gwent police reinforce the need for all LoS reports to be CONFIRMED at the point of creation (see 14/11/2025 disclosure below).

Yet a month later:

05/11/2025 – yet another PNC LoS marker ‘fell away’ from a VRM at about 6 weeks – suspected of having been weeded, i.e. not confirmed within the 6 weeks.

14/11/2025 – Gwent police state:

  • The FCR (Force Control Room) does not QA every LOS report due to risk management and capacity. 
  • Weekly briefings are issued to staff and FCR Briefing on 07/10/25 reinforced the need for all LOS reports to be confirmed at point of creation. 

Why did Gwent police need to ‘reinforce’ the issue in October 2025 if the process is working; what gave rise to this being mentioned in the briefing?

24/11/2025 – a FoIA of Gwent police about ‘UNCONFIRMED PNC LoS Markers For VRMs‘

As per the IR (above):

FURTHER READING:

Vehicle Taking Statistics Variation – linked to the Gwent ‘issue’: Does anyone know the true extent of the UK’s STOLEN vehicle problem?

Gwent police information:

27/06/2025 – Police force told it needs to improve how it investigates crime & Gwent Police brings “too few offenders to justice“, says report.