Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

The complainant wrote to the DVLA on 4/1/05 to request information relating to the status of particular vehicles on the DVLA database. DVLA did not accept that the request required a response under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the "Act") and instead used existing internal criteria for deciding whether the request should be honoured. Consequently, the complainant did not receive a response from DVLA as directed by the Act. Following the Commissioner's intervention the complainant received a valid refusal notice on 4/10/05.