FOI 486/25
REQUEST
I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 regarding offences related to driving without a valid licence within your jurisdiction. Specifically, I would like to request the following data for the period between 1st January 2020 and 31st December 2024:
- The total number of recorded offences where individuals were found to be driving without a valid licence
- The number of arrests made for driving without a valid licence
- The number of individuals who were caught driving with an expired licence
- The number of fines issued for driving without a licence, an expired licence or a valid licence, along with the total value of fines imposed
- The number of individuals who received a driving ban due to driving without a licence
- The number of cases involving breaches of provisional licence terms
RESPONSE
Your request for information has now been considered and I am not obliged to supply the information you have requested.
In relation to your request, the following exemption applies:
Section 12 – Exemption where cost of compliance exceeds appropriate limit.
We consulted with our Motoring Unit who have advised the information you have requested in relation to questions 3 & 6 is not recorded in an easily retrievable format. With the exception of disqualified driving - all driving licence offences are dealt with using the offence – ‘Driving Otherwise in Accordance with a Licence’. This offence is used for endorsable and non endorsable offences. It is an umbrella offence which includes all driving licence offences. To locate the offences which contain the reason – ‘an expired licence’, We would need to read the officer’s evidence or every chargesheet to see whether the reason for the offence was because the driver had an expired licence.
In 2024 alone there were 424 license offences recorded in our force area. We estimate it would take approximately 10 minutes to manually interrogate each offence including the locating of the offence, examination of the facts and documenting the results to retrieve the information requested.
We therefore estimate it would take in excess of 70 hours to comply with your request for 2024 data alone.
It is estimated that the cost of providing you with the information is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond i.e. the cost of locating and retrieving the information exceeds the "appropriate level" as stated in the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004.
In the case of the police service, the appropriate limit is £450 which has been calculated to equate to a total of 18 hours of work.
If any part of the request exceeds the fees limit then Section 12 applies to the whole request.
In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, this letter acts as a refusal notice.
Excess cost removes the forces obligation under the Freedom of Information Act, however under Section 16 – Duty to provide advice and assistance, an authority is required to offer an applicant the opportunity to redefine their request within the cost limit. If you were to resubmit questions 1 & 2 alone, we may be able to assist with your request.
Please note South Wales Police hold no information for questions 4 & 5.
In relation to question 4 all fines are issued by HMCTS therefore you may wish to submit this part of your request to them. Please see the below link:
How to make a freedom of information (FOI) request: How to make an FOI request - GOV.UK
In relation to question 5 ‘Driving Bans’ are imposed by the Crown Prosecution Service therefore you may wish to submit this part of your request to them. Please see the below link: