On 26th January 2005, Ann McKechin MP wrote in a letter
There are hundreds of government computer systems which work well eg. Vehicle Licensing but don't attract media attention as a result.
The letter was in reply to some concerns that I had raised about the government's proposals to introduce ID cards and the National Identity Register. In response to this letter, I requested information from DVLA about the estimated accuracy of the vehicle licensing database. The reply was very helpful and very interesting:
Dear Mr Bevan
Thank you for you request for information dated 4 February about the
accuracy of the vehicle licensing database. Your request has been dealt
with as part of our day to day business. As I am responsible for
looking at ways of improving the accuracy of DVLA's databases, your
e-mail was passed to me for reply. Please accept my apologies for the
delay in responding to you.
DVLA holds in excess of 36 million vehicle records and 47 million driver
records, so as you can imagine, maintaining accuracy is extremely
difficult, particularly when the Agency is totally dependant upon the
motoring public for much of its information. DVLA takes its
responsibility for providing accurate information to customers and
stakeholders very seriously, and is continuously looking for ways to
improve the quality of the information it holds. Over the last 6 years,
there has been a progressive phasing-in of new initiatives aimed at
improving accuracy. These include the introduction of Statutory Off
Road Notification in 1998, the mandatory production of a registration
document at licensing in 2003 and Continuous Registration in January 2004.
However, a single measure/level of accuracy is not appropriate because
of the different measuring processes used by DVLA. The following
information will give you an indication of how difficult it is to quote
a single accuracy percentage.
As a benchmark, DVLA conducted an Accuracy Survey in 2003. The results
of the survey showed that 68% of the records on the vehicle database
were perfectly correct in every aspect. A further 22% contained
spelling mistakes in name and address details or had out of date
postcodes. However, these errors are minor in nature and, more
importantly, do not stop mail being delivered or prevent police or
manufacturers from tracing vehicle keepers in the event of an accident
or a vehicle safety recall. This, in effect, amounts to a 90%
traceability level using the information on the vehicle database, which
is extremely important in order for DVLA to meet its key objectives of
helping to improve road safety and reduce vehicle crime. Incidentally,
the 2003 survey indicated that the main cause of inaccuracy on the
vehicles database (as much as 10%) was as a result of vehicle keepers
not informing DVLA when they sold/scrapped their vehicle or changed
their address.
Additionally, DVLA carries out a monthly monitoring exercise of the
accuracy of information at data capture. The results show that DVLA
staff consistently meets an accuracy level in excess of 97.5% each month.
As you can see, there are 3 quite separate accuracy percentages; 68%
perfect records, 90% traceable records and 97.5% records accurate at
data capture, all of which are valid percentages, which are used for
different purposes.
I trust that the above information fully answers your question.
Regards.
Linda Weaver
ACG
B1
This page is Bobby Approved.
Last updated at least as recently as 2005-03-08.
