Police Scotland LoS Records

09/04/2024, a Freedom of Information Act request was made to Police Scotland for ‘PNC LoS Markers for VRMs 2023 & 2024’:

I ask to be provided:

  1. The records for theft/taking of a motor vehicle from

a. 01/01/2023 to 31/12/2023 and
b. 01/01/2024 to 31/12/2024

(inclusive) month on month, i.e. the number of vehicle thefts notified each month, in EXCEL FORMAT, detailing:

  1. The date of theft
  2. about the vehicle, its:
    a. the make
    b. model
    c. categorisation i.e. car, HGV, moped, etc
  3. Whether the vehicles concerned have been recovered
  4. The month of recovery held against the record
  5. The age of the vehicle*

*I am only seeking characters 3 and 4 of the VRM; the two numbers (the age identifier. For example, 51 represents September 2001. The age identifier changes every six months in March and September. Where a cherished/personal, non-age-related plate, these characters will suffice – in Excel, I will be able to sort the data

An example of the output I am seeking can be located here (Essex Police disclosure).

10/07/2025, whilst supply of the 2023 information appears to have been overlooked, 20024 was provided in Excel spreadsheet format, which can be viewed here.

3,559 vehicles(i) were the subject of vehicle theft allegations(ii).

  1. ‘vehicles’ can include anything from a quad bike to HGV
  2. ‘allegations’ refers to an accepted complaint of crime made to the constabulary, i.e. the account has been accepted as genuine and a PNC (police national computer) LoS (Lost or Stolen) register entry made. Among these ‘allegations’ will be a number of misrepresented crimes, false reports.

Of these 3,559, as at the date of the information being provided (07/2025), the recovery figures indicate:

  • 1,615 were recovered, comprising:
    • 16 in 2023(iii)
    • 1,576 in 2024
    • 23 in 2025

(iii) It will be appreciated that there is an anomaly; how have vehicles reported stolen in 2024 been found in 2023? We anticipate they were subject to earlier (previous) thefts but await an explanation.

1,576 recoveries equate to a 43.79% recovery rate.

A further 172 entries have a ‘recovered flag’ against the vehicle but are without a recovery year or month. If these are in fact recovered vehicles, and they were located in 2024, this brings the total recoveries to 1,748, or 48.57% of the 3,559 reported stolen.