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Number Plate Issuing Bodies

The Locomotive and Highways Act 1896 dictated that every heavy locomotive or self-propelled carriage (with certain exceptions) had to be licensed by the County, or County Borough Council. It was still a requirement to register the excepted vehicles, however.

The Motor Car Act 1903 required all motor vehicles to be registered, and to clearly display their registration marks in a prominent location. The fee for vehicle registration was initially twenty shillings, with fines being introduced for driving unlicensed vehicles. Also, drivers were to be licensed once a year, for a fee of five shillings.

The County Councils and County Borough Councils were given statutory powers to enforce this process, and became the Registration and Licensing Authorities.

With the Roads Act 1920, Councils had to register all vehicles as they were licensed and assign a unique number to each, which was then to be mounted in the approved way. It also made it a requirement for people to notify the local Council when they purchased a vehicle.

Licensing provisions for manufacturers and dealers were drawn up, including the introduction of a General Licence, the ancestor of today's Trade Plate. Hackney carriages were required to display a distinctive notice, indicating the number of people the vehicle could carry.

The Road Traffic Act 1930 introduced a licensing system for Public Service Vehicles and updated requirements for driving licences.

By 1965, the system was close to failing, as the effects of this increased mobility had far exceeded the ability of the system to cope with it, with little information-sharing capabilities, and millions of documents passing between Councils as vehicles were resold to owners in different locations.

At this point, the government decided upon a centralised agency to deal with the registration and licensing, with 81 supporting Local Vehicle Licensing Offices - this agency was to be known as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre, or DVLC, which was the forerunner of todays Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, or DVLA.