Memorandum by The DVLA (Driver and Vehicle
Licensing Agency) (VOT 29)
1. The Committee wrote to Clive Bennett
on 21 December inviting DVLA to contribute to the joint inquiry
into electoral registration. I am replying as Head of Policy at
DVLA.
2. The DVLA has recently been assisting
the Office for National Statistics with its proposal to build
a population register for use by public services. This work is
being taken forward in ONS by the Citizen Information Project.
The relevant contact details at ONS are:
Eric Powell, Office for National Statistics,
Smedley Hydro, Trafalgar Road, Southport, PR8 2HH.
3. The aim is that the population register
will be of consistently higher quality than data currently available
and will become the authoritative source of name and address information
for those resident in UK. One of the desired outcomes is that
people will only have to notify one Government authority when
they change address.
4. However, the position is not so straightforward.
Whilst the blueprint would meet the needs of most people, there
will be many others that have legitimate reasons for using different
addresses for different purposes.
5. I now turn to the information requested
on "information sharing" and "data protection".
In our discussion you explained that it would be helpful to understand
what issues might need to be resolved if DVLA were asked to provide
change-of-address details to help maintain the Electoral Register.
The second principle of the Data Protection Act prevents further
processing of data for purposes not compatible with the reasons
for which the data was collected (although exceptions do exist).
Information on drivers is collected and held by DVLA under Part
Three of the Road Traffic Act 1988, for the statutory purpose
of licensing drivers. This Act does not contain any provision
that specifically allows for the disclosure of information from
the drivers' record.
6. Previous legal advice has indicated that
specific legal powers would be required in order to process personal
data for reasons not compatible with the purposes for which the
data was collected and held under statute.
7. I hope this information is helpful to
the inquiry. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require
further assistance.
Hugh Evans
Head of Policy
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