By Andy McCue, 3 November 2004 16:38
NEWS The quality of information in the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's (DVLA) databases is so poor that police taking part in a high-tech number plate scanning trial were forced to resort to manual visual checks on suspect vehicles.
The weaknesses in the accuracy of data in the DVLA's databases were flagged up in a report into a year-long trial by 23 police forces using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology to check vehicles against various intelligence databases.
Home Secretary David Blunkett has just announced £15m of funding to extend the ANPR project nationwide after the 'Laser 2' trial led to 13,000 arrests and the seizure of £8m-worth of drugs and property.
During the trial, ANPR teams in police forces were able to use the automatic scanning technology in police vehicles and CCTV cameras to cross-reference vehicle registration plates against information held in the Police National Computer, local intelligence systems and DVLA tax disc and vehicle owner databases.
But a report into the trial, commissioned by the Home Office and carried out by PA Consulting, slams the accuracy of data held in the DVLA's databases.
The report says the quality of data actually got worse over the course of the trial, falling from 51 per cent to 40 per cent, and police officers were forced to resort to carrying out visual checks on vehicle tax discs rather than relying on the DVLA data because of "decreased confidence in using the DVLA databases as the primary means of stop".
"The DVLA databases in particular were shown to be poor. As yet, there are no Criminal Justice Extranet (CJX) facilities for the electronic transfer of updated information to forces on a daily basis and this is a further limitation on database accuracy," the report said. "Further, there is a lack of rigorous understanding as to the precise causes of data inaccuracies. As data is key to ANPR, we conclude that this represents a weakness that should be addressed."
Among recommendations to improve the use of ANPR are direct links from police forces to the new computerised MOT database, which is due to go live later this year, and motor insurance databases, which flag up vehicles without insurance.
It also calls for a national "vehicle intelligence data warehouse" to reduce reliance on locally produced and held information, which would also fit into the national intelligence sharing strategy put forward by the Bichard Inquiry into the Soham murder investigation.
"This data warehouse should also hold ANPR reads and hits, which are themselves a vital source of vehicle intelligence and should be accompanied by the development of data mining tools of a more sophisticated nature," the report said.
Overlap or compatibility with the national ID card scheme would also have to be considered when designing a national vehicle register, according to PA Consulting.
Long-term funding of the ANPR technology also remains an issue. The year-long trial cost £12m, which was partly funded by £1m recovered by police using the technology. But the report admits this would not cover the cost of the full-time police needed to operate the technology and carry out the vehicle checks.
A spokeswoman for the DVLA said a number of improvements have been introduced since the report to ensure a greater level of accuracy in the data supplied to police and that when the DVLA links to the CJX around the middle of next year the situation will improve further. She claimed that since the PA Consulting repor the accuracy of one of the DVLA database is assessed at 92 per cent in terms of tracing registered keepers.
"We believe that these developments address the concerns expressed by the PA Consulting report. They will enable the Agency to provide full support for the police ANPR system which is perceived as a high priority within the Agency," she said.
Comments
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1. anonymous
What's the betting that NOBODY at the DVLA will lose their job over this total shambles!
2. Richard
So much for the accuracy of government databases!
ID cards anyone?
These databases are usually only good for targetting the law abiding about some minor matter.
3. anonymous
database integrity is a big issue and it seems government IT schemes in general do not do too well. I only hope they sort it all out before creating the electronic birth certificate systems etc. that I read will be developed shortly.
4. anonymous
Why bother with DVLC if the police take no action.
I remember recent TV coverage of persistant issuance of parking fines re cloned vehicles.
Who cares about the DVLC being inaccurate when there are TV shows showing the unwillingness of police to do anything about cloning -
The TV program included a report of the persistant issuing of fines to a woman for parking / and failure to pay London congestion charge, when she had not been to London, and eventually having located the illegal vehicle that had her number plates - Had to bring here own registered car up to london and park it alongside the cloned vehicle, and even then had trouble getting the cloned vehicle investigated, let alone impounded.
And that was on TV!
Basically, it seems to me that the country does not need new laws to manage the public at large.
What is needed is some means to FORCE the law enforcement and associated organisations to do their job properly.
5. Donald Clarkson
Perhaps if the DVLA stopped wasting our money on pointless TV ads, it could get its data sorted out.
Maybe the ASA should investigate the accuracy of their claims that they "know where we live"?
6. Neiol Postlethwaite
I know of 2 instances of people who sent their driving licence off for amendment and never received it back. When they chased, they were told there was no record of their licence on the system that they had ever had one or passed their test. The DVLA's attitude was 'tough shit', if you want a licence (and legal insurance etc..) you need to resit your test pronto.
DVLA outsourced in recent times to EDS.... if anyone has forgotten.
Might have done a data cleanse on the 'boil wash cycle'.
Wonder if the DVLA will be able to satisfy their Freedom of Information obligations in Jan. Supposed to have
access to data for last 50 years or so ain;t you.
7. DW
Doesn't the data protection act require holders of public data to ensure that the data is accurate? Or are government organisations exempt from laws enforced by government organisations?
8. anonymous
The writer seems to have got confused between ANPR number plate reading accuracy and database integrity.
ANPR reading is probably only about 40% accurate. However, the databases are accurate, the problem is the police don't use a live link, but a database extract that could be out of date.
The article seems to be the real source of inacuracy here!
9. anonymous
I was happy to be stopped by the police and invited to take part in a chritmas anti drink drive random test. I have a brand new car yet they told me the vehicle was still registered to the previous owner ! I have a private plate. I wrote to the DVLA to sort things out but after a month no response at all. I was by police previously on another routine check and the vehicle check was ok !