Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many vehicles were identified and impounded solely on the basis of non-payment of vehicle excise duty as part of the pilot enforcement action using automatic number plate recognition of illegal foreign-registered vehicles in the UK.

The pilot took place between 3 November 2014 and 8 February 2015. It was a joint initiative between the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, the Central Motorway Police Group and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. The police forces involved were West Midlands, Staffordshire, West Mercia, Northamptonshire, Thames Valley and Hampshire.

A total of 703 foreign registered vehicles were identified and impounded for non-payment of vehicle excise duty as part of the pilot.