Removal, storage and disposal of vehicles regulations: business regulatory impact assessment

2. Section 1: Background, aims and options

2.1 Background to policy issue

Scotland’s vehicle recovery system plays a vital role in supporting public safety, road clearance, and effective policing. Ensuring that vehicle recovery operators are appropriately compensated is essential to maintaining a sustainable and responsive service.

Under section 99 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (“the 1984 Act”) and the Removal and Disposal of Vehicles Regulations 1986, the police have the power to remove vehicles that are illegally, obstructively, or dangerously parked, abandoned or broken down. The physical tasks of removal and subsequent disposal are carried out on behalf of the police by contracted recovery operators across Scotland as part of the Vehicle Recovery Scheme.

Removals ordered by the police are necessary in order to enforce the law and to remove obstructions and potential dangers. They also help prevent theft of the vehicles, their use for criminal purposes, their becoming a focus for crime or environmental degradation and their being driven whilst in a dangerous condition (which may not be immediately apparent). In some cases the police may need to remove a vehicle for forensic examination.

The current Scottish vehicle recovery charging framework was updated in 2019. The Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicles (Prescribed Sums and Charges etc.) (Scotland) Regulations 2019 introduced the current matrix-charging approach for vehicles removed under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978, replacing earlier Scottish charging instruments. The Police (Retention and Disposal of Motor Vehicles) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2019 amended the Police (Retention and Disposal of Motor Vehicles) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 to update the police charging arrangements for vehicles seized under the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004.

The current review updates the Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicles (Prescribed Sums and Charges etc.) (Scotland) Regulations 2019; and the Police (Retention and Disposal of Motor Vehicles) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2019. These changes put in place revised charges that would apply when the police or local authorities invoke their legislative powers to remove, store or dispose of vehicles.

The need for a review has arisen from the passage of time involving both the effects of inflation and changes to the operational environment. While it was envisaged that the framework would be kept under review, this review is taking place later than originally anticipated. As a result, the statutory charges have remained unchanged for a prolonged period, during which operating costs and wider market conditions have evolved.

This has created additional pressures for vehicle recovery operators and provides an opportunity to consider whether the current charging framework continues to meet its intended objectives and remains appropriate in light of operational and economic developments.

2.2 Current Position – before proposed changes

The statutory fees for police and local authority-initiated removal, storage and disposal of vehicles were last reviewed in 2019. Since then, inflationary pressures, operational cost increases, and changes in the vehicle fleet – including a sharp rise in the use of electric vehicles – have impacted recovery providers and partners.

2.3 Types of Business, Economic Sector, Groups or Communities that could be affected by the issue and its proposed solution

Individual vehicle recovery operators, alongside industry representatives from road haulage and the vehicle recovery industries as well as the insurance industry and local authorities and Police Scotland make up the primary group of interested stakeholders.