To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he has taken (a) to ensure that vehicle excise duty renewal (VED) notices (V11s) are sent out correctly to the registered keeper of the vehicle and to no one else and (b) to follow up the VED renewal notices that do not elicit a response. (100874)

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) undertakes a monthly scan of the vehicle register to identify vehicles that are due to be licensed. Renewal notices are despatched to the registered keeper of the vehicle. As the form is printed six to eight weeks in advance, a renewal may be sent to a customer who has recently notified disposal of a vehicle. Following the initial print run, DVLA makes further checks of the vehicle register to identify records that may have changed in the interim period and issues renewal notices if required.

The onus is on the customer to ensure that their vehicle is correctly licensed at all times. If customers fail to re-license or declare a statutory off road notice, enforcement action may be taken.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many prosecutions have been taken out against individuals for non-renewal of a vehicle excise duty off-road notice when the defence has been non-receipt of the renewal notice; and how many of these prosecutions have been successful. (100875)

Since the introduction of continuous registration in 2004, 3.5 million late licence penalty letters have been issued. Over 10,000 letters have been issued to those who claim not to have received a reminder notice and each of these letters state that payment is still due. This equates to 0.3 per cent. of all cases.

Once a letter such as this has been sent the case will be selected for prosecution in the same way as any other.

I am not aware of any cases where this defence has resulted in a case being found against the agency.