FOI Number Plate Offences (0790-2024/25)

Request
Q1. Non-compliant number plates:
a. Plates purchased from ' suppliers not registered with the Register of Number Plate Suppliers (RNPS).
b. Plates failing to conform to British Standards (e.g BS AU 145e).
c. Mis-spaced or tampered plates, including those altered to obscure identification.
d. Plates incorporating unauthorized fonts, colours, designs or patterns.

Q2. Criminal uses of number plates:
a. Plates used on cloned or "ringed" vehicles.
b. Stolen number plates reported as part of other crimes (e.g., theft, fraud, or burglary).
c. Counterfeit or fake number plates detected in circulation.

Q3. Vehicle-related fraud and deception:
a. Plates used to evade Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) systems.
b. Plates linked to "drive-offs'; (e.g., fuel theft) or other crimes involving untraceable vehicles.
c. Plates associated with insurance or Identity fraud.

Q4. Organized and environmental crimes:
a. Number plates linked to organized vehicle crime syndicates, such as car theft or illegal exportation of cloned vehicles.
b. Plates involved in environmental crimes, such as fly-tipping, where unregistered vehicles were used to avoid detection.

Q5. Enforcement and policy data:
a. How the constabulary monitors compliance with vehicle number plate regulations (including ANPR system capabilities for detecting noncompliant plates).
b. Any policies, guidelines, or operational procedures related to number plate crimes or compliance enforcement.
c. The most common penalties or resolutions (e.g., prosecutions, warnings, or other action

• Annual data for the past five years.
• Summaries or statistical insights into trends, if available.
• Details of the most frequent offenses and any notable cases, where this does not breach privacy or confidentiality.

Extent of Searches to Locate Information
Following receipt of your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police to locate relevant information. 

Decision
I am not obliged to provide you with a response to your request pursuant to Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act). Please note that when one part of your request falls under Section 12, we are not obliged to review the rest of the questions and the whole request is therefore exempt.

Section 12(1) applies to your request as the cost of complying with your request is above the amount to which we are legally required to respond i.e. the cost of identifying and retrieving any relevant information exceeds the ‘appropriate level’ as stated in the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.

Due to the nature of our recording systems the information requested, if held, is not in an easily retrievable format. Our information retrieval process generally relies on a computer ran report which captures any information recorded upon the surface of a record or within specified fields. Where relevant information is held deeper in the record, or outside of a specified field, a manual assessment is required to retrieve that information.

In order to retrieve the requested information, it would be necessary to manually review over 1,923 records relating to number plate offences, which would exceed the time limit allowed under the Act. 

Pursuant to Section 17(5) of the Freedom of Information Act this letter acts as a Refusal Notice.

Pursuant to Section 16 of the Act I am required to offer you advice and assistance with regarding to refining your request to within the ‘appropriate limit’ (time/cost limit). However, due to the information provided above I am unable to suggest how you may refine your request and still receive the information within the cost threshold.  If you wish to discuss this please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data.  It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.