FAQ Details
Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) - 537/11
Dated: 07 Jun 2011
Date of request: 18/07/2011
Date of response: 25/07/2011
Provision of information held by Northumbria Police made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the 'Act')
Thank you for your email dated 18 July 2011 in which you made a request for access to certain information which may be held by Northumbria Police.
As you may be aware the purpose of the Act is to allow a general right of access to information held by a Public Authority (including the Police), subject to certain limitations and exemptions.
You asked:
How many motor vehicles were stopped by Police Officers as a result of the vehicle’s number plates triggering an alert on an Automatic Number Plate Recognition system in the year (a) 2006 (b) 2007 (c) 2008 (d) 2009 (e) 2010?
How many vehicles have been stopped by Police Officers as a result of the vehicle’s number plates triggering an alert on an Automatic Number Plate Recognition system and were found to be driving without valid motor insurance in the year (a) 2006 (b) 2007 (c) 2008 (d) 2009 (e) 2010?
What proactive measures are taken by Police Officers in order to catch individuals who drive a motor vehicle without motor insurance?
What punishment options (for example license endorsements, motor vehicle confiscation, criminal charges etc.) do Police Officers have when dealing with an individual who has driven a motor vehicle without motor insurance?
Does your Police Force have published protocols for dealing with individuals who drive a motor vehicle without valid motor insurance? If so, what are these?
In response:
We have now had the opportunity to fully consider your request and I provide a response for your attention.
Following receipt of your request, searches were conducted with the Crime and Operations Departments of Northumbria Police. I can confirm that the information you have requested is held, in part, by Northumbria Police.
No information held. Northumbria Police do not record this specific data.
No information held. Northumbria Police do not record this specific data.
As with all aspects of Policing, Northumbria Police officers apply the current law in relation to whichever aspect of offence they are dealing with. Specifically in relation to Roads Policing, where the situation requires it, officers apply the legislation according to Road Traffic Act 1988 Section 143(1)(a) which states:
"A person must not use a motor vehicle on a road or other public place unless there is in force in relation to the use of that vehicle by that person a policy of insurance."As the information you have requested at this part of your request is accessible by other means I have not provided you with a copy of the information and will rely on Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. You should therefore consider this a refusal for your request.
I have provided an explanation to this exemption below.
Section 21 (1) - Information accessible by other means
Information which is reasonably accessible to the applicant is exempt information.
The punishment options in relation to an offence of driving without insurance and all other road traffic offences are set by Parliament. This information is freely available via the Directgov website.
To assist you further I have supplied the relevant link below.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/DG_069870Northumbria Police do not have, published protocols for dealing with individuals who drive a motor vehicle without valid motor insurance. Current legislation is applied.
The information we have supplied to you is likely to contain intellectual property rights of Northumbria Police. Your use of the information must be strictly in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) or such other applicable legislation. In particular, you must not re-use this information for any commercial purpose.
How to complain
If you are unhappy with our decision or do not consider that we have handled your request properly and we are unable to resolve this issue informally, you are entitled to make a formal complaint to us under our complaints procedure which can be found at: http://www.northumbria.police.uk/foi/disclosurelog/foicomprights.asp
If you are still unhappy after we have investigated your complaint and reported to you the outcome, you may complain directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office and request that they investigate to ascertain whether we have dealt with your request in accordance with the Act.
Yours sincerely
Michael Cleugh
Data Protection and Disclosure Advisor
Direct Dial: 01661 868347