Author:

ROBIN ROBERTS

The DVLA will centralise nearly all its services at the Welsh headquarters and close 39 regional offices affecting 1,200 jobs.

The move to greater on-line resources will see about 450 new jobs created at Morriston, Swansea by the end of 2013.

Motorists will benefit from a better, quicker service from the DVLA claimed Roads Minister Mike Penning as he gave the go-ahead for wide-ranging reforms to improve how the Agency works. This transformation of the DVLA’s services will result in around £26 million year on year saving for the taxpayer.

But the plans drew criticism from the Freight Transport Association who said the loss of regional offices would be badly felt by its members who valued the face to face efficiency of regional offices and they warned it could have an impact on their businesses and trade.

It is hoped that some of the staff will be able to re-locate to the head office in Swansea.  No offices will close until late next year when alternative services will be available either through its contract for front office counter services, online or directly from Swansea.  DVLA will work to help affected staff as a matter of priority.

Roads Minister, Mike Penning said, “The DVLA has been serving motorists for more than 40 years but times and customers’ needs change. That is why the agency continues to transform its services to give customers more choice and flexibility while offering best value for money for the taxpayer.

“These changes – developed after carefully listening to views expressed at consultation – will ensure that the agency delivers a smarter service to bring real benefits for the motor industry and every motorist in this country.

“I understand that the phased closure of the regional offices will come as a disappointment to those directly affected.  I would like to thank the staff in these offices who have played an important part in DVLA service delivery over the years.”

DVLA’s Chief Executive, Simon Tse said, “We are absolutely committed to delivering the best service we can.  Our continued movement towards digital transactions and the greater use of other organisations to deliver services on our behalf will make it easier for motorists to deal with us in a way that suits them and also reduce significant burden on the motor industry and other stakeholders.

“A top priority for us now is to support our staff who work in our regional offices.  We will do everything we possibly can to provide help and guidance during what are clearly uncertain times for them.  We are working closely with the Public and Commercial Services union and those members of staff directly affected to explore all avenues, including possible relocation to Swansea or redeployment within the Civil Service.”

The plans will also allow motorists in Northern Ireland to benefit from the same services that motorists in Great Britain have access to.  This will give parity of service across the UK.

Key changes will see:

         Motor dealers able to do far more for their customers using DVLA digital services.  This will remove unnecessary burdens on the motorist and enable motor dealers to offer a one stop service in the vast majority of new and used vehicle sales.

         Far greater use of front office services by intermediaries.  This will mean that over 1 million licensing applications per year that currently can only be carried out at DVLA’s 39 regional offices will be available via a much wider network of front office services –potentially up to some 6,000 outlets –  cutting travel time for motorists and giving them much greater choice of where they choose to deal with DVLA.

         A step change as more and more of DVLA’s services become digital.

         The removal of burden on motor dealers by centralising the printing and despatching of tax discs direct to the registered keeper at DVLA’s HQ in Swansea.  Currently, motor dealers pay an indemnity to DVLA to store tax discs for the vehicles they register and licence – this typically amounts to a total of around £9 million per year.  By removing the burden on motor dealers to store discs, smaller dealers who currently cannot afford the indemnity will benefit and those dealers who currently pay the indemnity will see the advantages by the removal of time consuming administrative burden.

         The phased closure of DVLA’s regional offices given the face to face channel at those offices will no longer be necessary for motorists to deal with DVLA.   The work carried out at the 10 regional enforcement centres will be centralised in Swansea.  No regional offices will close until alternative delivery channels are up and running.  This means that the phased closures will not start until October 2013 and are expected to be completed by December 2013.

FTA predicts slower and more costly services for its members following Roads Minister Mike Penning giving the go-ahead today to centralising the DVLA’s services.

The centralisation plan has always been met with concerns by the FTA which is not convinced that its on-line service will not be developed to a standard which meets its members’ needs, resulting in unnecessary administration time and cost.

FTA members have valued the service, support and guidance provided by the staff at local DVLA offices where they could speak to experienced people qualified to deal with queries, and now worry that the closures could result in a reduction in customer service levels, ultimately impacting on the running of businesses and significantly raising costs.

The local DVLA offices have always played a significant part in the running of freight organisations day to day business; from tax discs to digital tachograph services, and if the proposed intermediaries are not geared up to handle bulk business sector enquiries, everything will now to be dealt with by post; FTA believe that it will cause delays particularly over Christmas, New Year and Bank Holidays which could lead to vehicles being taken off the road.

It may be easier for dealers and companies with small fleet numbers but it create be even bigger savings for those who have to keep a lot of tax discs for registrations. Our company car law section will guide you through requirements.