Deputy commissioner's car untaxed for three months

Calls have been made for Staffordshire's deputy police, fire and crime commissioner to step down after it emerged his car was untaxed for three months.

A BBC check of the online government database at the start of February showed the blue Jaguar driven by Conservative Dave Evans was untaxed and without a valid MOT.

The website said the tax for the vehicle had been due since 1 November 2025 and the MOT certificate had expired on 29 January 2026.

Evans, who chairs the Staffordshire Road Safety Partnership, blamed an error with the DVLA's system and said he got the car taxed and in for an MOT test as soon as he was made aware.

The DVLA told the BBC the vehicle inquiry service was operating normally and any information it displayed was "accurate and up-to-date".

Councillor Martin Murray, acting leader of Reform-controlled Staffordshire County Council, said Evans should resign from his position in the police, fire and crime commissioner's office.

"When you hold such high office, such responsibility and when you chair the Safer Roads Partnership, you're setting a standard that all of us should follow," he told BBC Midlands Today.

"That standard should never slip under any circumstance. For you to have a vehicle which goes against everything you're standing [for] and implementing laws upon, it makes your position untenable."

Evans, who also represents Baddeley, Milton and Norton on Stoke-on-Trent City Council, told the BBC the DVLA wrote to him in November about the renewal of his road tax.

"I checked their website but due to an error with their systems, the tax was showing as valid at the time," he said.

"I have since learned that this was an error and I have raised this matter with the DVLA."

On the expired MOT certificate, he said he bought the car in March and "wrongly assumed" it had a test done at the point of purchase.

He said it was an "honest mistake" and got a valid MOT for the car and got it taxed as soon as he was made aware.

Asked if there had been reports of any problems with its web services within the last four months, a DVLA spokesperson said: "I can confirm that the vehicle inquiry service is operating normally and the information it displays is accurate and up-to-date."

Evans spoke in support of a motion to tighten road safety laws at a meeting of Stoke-on-Trent City Council earlier this year.

He said at the time: "I think it's incumbent on all of us to try and drive to make the road safer."

He added: "I think it's important that we also remember as individuals that we have a responsibility when we get behind the wheel of a car."

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