Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of SORN vehicles that remain on public highways after being clamped by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

No estimate has been made on the number of unlicensed vehicles that remain on the public road with a Statutory off Road Notification (SORN) after being clamped by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). However, we expect the majority of these vehicles to have been licensed or moved off the public highway.

Any vehicles remaining unlicensed on the public highway risk being clamped again. When a vehicle is clamped by the DVLA for being unlicensed and with a SORN in force the keeper is required to relicense the vehicle or pay a surety in order for the clamp to be removed. If no action is taken, then the vehicle is removed from the public highway to a pound within 72 hours.

Local authorities and the police can also clamp and impound unlicensed or abandoned vehicles.