On 20 April Sir Bob visited the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s (DVLA) central headquarters in Swansea as part of his regular Friday programme of visits to see the work of civil servants based outside of London.
Judith Whitaker, DVLA Chief Operation Officer, gave Sir Bob a tour of the site to give Sir Bob an insight into the massive scale and fast pace of the organisation, which deals with 200 million customer interactions and 120 million transactions a year.
Judith explained that the DVLA is responsible for maintaining the register of some 44m drivers and 34 million vehicles and for collecting in excess of £5bn in Vehicle Excise Duty on behalf of the Treasury in the UK. DVLA operates some of the largest and most popular online Government services, including car tax renewal.
The DVLA handles 7.9m drivers licence applications, changes and duplicates and 19.8m vehicle registrations each year. A vital part of its role is providing information to the Courts, the Police, Local Authorities, and EU counterpart organisations to help enforce traffic and parking regulations and tackle vehicle crime.
One of the major challenges for the organisation is working through an efficiency programme that will concentrate on moving DVLA services from paper to electronic channels, making greater use of intermediaries and centralised processing to increase the availability of their face-to-face services. The programme will deliver changes to ensure continued value for money by delivering statutory services efficiently and contributing to reducing the DVLA’s running costs by £100m by 2015.
The DVLA is working on harmonising GB and NI Vehicle Services to enable a consistent customer experience for both NI and GB customers. They are also making a key contribution to DfT’s response to the road transport theme of the red tape challenge particularly in reducing paperwork for motorists and businesses. It has committed to abolishing the paper counterpart to the driving licence by 2015.
At the end of his visit, staff gathered to hear Sir Bob talk about his vision for the future and the changes and challenges the Civil Service is facing. He then opened the floor to questions from staff on a range of topics including pay and pensions, social media and his priorities.
Judith Whitaker, Chief Operating Officer said:
“It was a pleasure to welcome Sir Bob to DVLA and to be able to introduce him to staff. It was good to hear from him about the challenges facing the Civil Service and what his priorities are moving forward. It was clear to me that Sir Bob values the work we do as civil servants and that he recognises the critical role we play.”
Rebekah Davies, Customer Enquiries Group, who attended the session said:
“I found it very interesting and informative. I also found it refreshing that he answered all the questions that were asked on the day.”
Paul Davies, Vehicles Casework, also added:
“Great to see Sir Bob take time to visit the DVLA, a relaxed approach to the Q&A and he didn’t shy away from any questions.”
To Sir Bob,Judith Whitaker, Chief Operating Officer
“Great to see Sir Bob take time to visit the DVLA, a relaxed approach to the Q&A and he didn’t shy away from any questions.”
Dear Sir Bob, and the following Judith Whitaker, Chief Operating Officer I to have visited Swansea DVLA also had them visit our group in Birmingham frequently spoken to staff over the phone, unfortunately for me it generated a lot of stress and anxiety.
As the chairperson of a small Charity Number: 1054605 Birmingham Adult Dyslexic Group (badg) A Trustee of the British Dyslexia Association (BDA) Including the representative of adult issues across the United Kingdom coverin Disabilities around Text Disabled.
I feel it is my duty to inform you the excessive levels of stress and anxiety and in some instances individuals losing their vehicles and going to prison, have you took this into account in relationship to your vision?
My question, how does an individual access government websites but particularly the DVLA if they are not on broadband, do not own their own computer with appropriate assistive technology such as a screen reader?
Accessibility is currently substandard on the DVLA website it is not user friendly it does not have its own stand-alone screen reader and it often times out.
If you are an individual who threw disability is text disabled, an individual who is illiterate, an elderly person an individual who speaks English but it is a second language therefore does not read English or an overseas student studying in England have today access information supplied and sent out by the DVLA?
The cost to many individuals can be huge not only financially but emotionally which can lead to extra costs going through the legal system and possibly prison or worse the NHS and long-term mental health issues have you taken into account this cost?
I am the members represent have been petitioning and requesting information on alternative format for example all written correspondence leaflet, and booklets be accompanied with an Audio CD and an open PDF file on CD, as of yet this has never happened, could you explain where the DVLA are exempt from the equality act?
There are many other issues I would like to raise and bring to your attention however these are the main ones
Kind regards
William