Press release: DVLA assists production companies from Hollyoaks to Hollywood

Providing registration numbers and mock driving licences for production companies is one of the services DVLA carries out that people may not know about.

Over the years DVLA has assisted production companies by issuing mock licences for use in a scene. These include Emmerdale (ITV), EastEnders (BBC) and Hatton Garden (ITV).

DVLA has also supplied registration numbers for use by the Grand Tour (Amazon Prime), Saturday Night Takeaway (ITV) and major Hollywood pictures such as Transformers.

DVLA also provided registration numbers for magazine shoots, adverts and programmes including Hollyoaks (Channel 4), Vera (ITV), Shetland (BBC One) and Rownd a Rownd (S4C).

Jody Davies, DVLA Personalised Registrations Sales Manager, said:

While we may not get our name included in the credits, we’re proud to have helped so many production companies over the years find their perfect registration number.

Our personalised registrations website helps motorists find their perfect number every day. And with prices starting from £250 you don’t need a studio’s budget to make your car stand out.

Notes to editors

Follow DVLA Personalised Registrations on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates and information.



Press release: June 2018 Transaction Data

HM Land Registry completed 1,701,272 applications in June compared with 1,723,578 in May and 1,690,237 last June, of which:

  • Transaction Data is published on the 15th working day of each month. The July Transaction Data will be published at 11am on Tuesday 21 August 2018 at HM Land Registry Monthly Property Transaction Data.

  • The monthly Transaction Data showing how many applications for new titles, leases, splitting titles, updating existing titles, official copies of the register and search and hold queries (official searches) were received, reflects the volume of applications lodged by customers using an HM Land Registry account number on their application form.

  • We are challenging ourselves to reassess our language to make our terms understandable to both our commercial and our citizen customers. This is in line with our commitment set out in the Business Strategy 2017-2022 under the ‘simplicity’ element of our ambition.

  • Completed applications in England and Wales shown by region and by local authority include postal applications as well as those sent electronically.

  • Transaction Data excludes: pending applications, bankruptcy applications, bulk applications and discharge applications (to remove a charge, for example a mortgage, from the register).

  • Transactions for value are applications lodged involving a transfer of ownership for value. For an explanation of other terms used, see abbreviations used in the transaction data.

  • Most search and hold queries (official searches) carried out by a solicitor or conveyancer are to protect the purchase and/or mortgage. For example, a search and hold query will give the buyer priority for an application to HM Land Registry to register the purchase of the property. This can give an indication of market activity.

  • Reasonable skill and care is used in the provision of the data. We strive to ensure that the data is as accurate as possible but cannot guarantee that it is free from error. We cannot guarantee our data is fit for your intended purpose or use.

  • Transaction Data is available free of charge for use and re-use under the Open Government Licence (OGL). The licence allows public bodies to make their data available for re-use.

  • If you use or publish the Transaction Data, you must add the following attribution statement: Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2018. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

  • HM Land Registry’s mission is to guarantee and protect property rights in England and Wales.

  • HM Land Registry is a government department created in 1862. It operates as an executive agency and a trading fund and its running costs are covered by the fees paid by the users of its services. Its ambition is to become the world’s leading land registry for speed, simplicity and an open approach to data.

  • HM Land Registry safeguards land and property ownership worth in excess of £4 trillion, including around £1 trillion of mortgages. The Land Register contains more than 25 million titles showing evidence of ownership for some 85% of the land mass of England and Wales.

  • For further information about HM Land Registry visit www.gov.uk/land-registry.

  • Follow us on Twitter @HMLandRegistry our blog and LinkedIn and Facebook.



    • News story: This is Sellafield

    The NDA summit 2018 drew in a national and international audience of leaders from Government, site stakeholder groups, local authorities and the entire NDA estate to hear about the latest issues and progress in the nuclear industry.

    As well as premiering a new Sellafield video, Rebecca also delivered a presentation which showed some of the background and ‘hidden’ work needed to deliver the success of gaining access to the Pile Fuel Cladding Silo.

    This is Sellafield

    The Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Permanent Secretary Alex Chisholm was at the event and said:

    In recent years Sellafield Ltd has met significant milestones in retrieving hazardous waste from its legacy ponds and silos. Real progress has been made with reducing delays and cost overruns, which demonstrates the hard work of the management teams and workforce to drive improvements and I have no doubt this trend will continue.

    These major successes at Sellafield have been years in the making. It follows on from a significant amount of work to develop and understand the scale and nature of the risks and to devise innovative solutions. I am really pleased to see the National Audit Office reporting that work at Sellafield has taken a real turn for the better.



    Press release: Sellafield travel scheme success

    A new travel programme at Sellafield has resulted in 500 fewer cars using site car parks.

    Sellafield Ltd introduced a raft of new travel to work options in February this year.

    These included park and ride bus services and direct commuter coaches.

    Estimates have indicated that since then traffic accessing the site has reduced by 500 vehicles a day. Building on that success, the company is launching the next phase of its travel improvements on Monday, 23 July 2018.

    These include:

    • a requirement for vehicles entering the site to have 3 or more occupants
    • minimum occupancy of 2 people or more for vehicles using the off-site Yottenfews car park
    • a new car sharing database

    The measures supplement existing park and ride schemes in:

    • Workington,
    • Cockermouth
    • Whitehaven
    • Egremont
    • Gosforth

    This also includes direct coaches from north and south of the Sellafield site.

    A shuttle service between satellite offices and the main site runs every 15 minutes.

    Steve Bostock, Sellafield Ltd site director said:

    I want to thank everyone who has embraced these changes.

    These changes are necessary for us to deliver our mission of making Sellafield safer, sooner.

    To clear space for future decommissioning projects, we needed to remove 1,300 parking spots on the site.

    We’re doing it in phases to give people time to adjust and to ensure we balance the needs of the business.

    I’m delighted at the success so far. We’re already seeing genuine benefits for people who work on the site and the local community.

    Recorded benefits so far:

    • 500 fewer cars using on-site car parks
    • 300 fewer cars a day using the off-site Yottenfews car park, compared with June 2017
    • 9,500 journeys on the direct commuter coaches in June 2018 alone
    • 120 people a day using the Gosforth park and ride and commuter routes

    For more information contact Ruth Hutchison: +44 (0)19467 86227, ruth.hutchison@sellafieldsites.com



    Press release: Boaters’ views sought in consultation on proposed charges

    Boat owners who keep or use a boat on waterways managed by the Environment Agency are being encouraged to have their say in plans to increase charges.

    A public consultation into proposed increases to boat registration charges for 2019-20 and 2020-21 launched today and will run until the 30 August 2018.

    The Environment Agency is the second largest navigation authority in the UK and is responsible for more than 1,000 km of navigable waterways including the non-tidal River Thames, River Great Ouse and Upper Medway Navigation.

    The proposed charges form part of plans to create a financially sustainable service on waterways used by almost 30,000 boats. Currently the cost of running the service far exceeds the income generated from charges, risking a reductions in the levels of maintenance of waterway structures such as locks and the standard of customer service boat users expect.

    The two year proposal gives time to complete a wider review of navigation charges alongside bringing in other measures to make the waterways less reliant on government grant-in-aid funding.

    Mark Ormrod, the national manager for navigation at the Environment Agency, said:

    Our navigation service plays an important role in protecting our waterways and supports both recreation and business for thousands of people.

    This consultation is a valuable opportunity for our customers to tell us what parts of our service are most important and give us their ideas about how we should fund them so I would encourage as many boaters as possible to take part.

    An increase in charges is essential to work towards creating a sustainable service that covers the cost of maintaining our valued waterways and delivering a safe and efficient service for our customers.

    The proposed increases will raise an additional £930k to invest in the waterways over the proposed 2-year period. The increases by waterway are:

    • River Thames: 5.7%
    • Anglian Waterways: 7.5%
    • Upper Medway Navigation: 10%
    • Unpowered and boats covered by joint registration agreements: 7.7%

    Subject to the consultation response, new charges could be implemented from 1January 2019 on the River Thames and 1 April 2019 for our Anglian Waterways and the Upper Medway Navigation.

    To take part in the consultation, please visit GOV.UK