Recommendations & Conclusions
14 items
2
Recommendation
Forty-first Report - Driving licence ba…
Accepted
The DVLA’s communication during the pandemic was ineffective, leaving many customers feeling as if their applications were making no progress. Customers had huge difficulty contacting the DVLA’s call centre during the pandemic to enquire about the progress of applications. Between April 2020 and March 2022, due to a surge in …
Government response. The DVLA has a dedicated telephone line and email service which is exclusively for the use of MPs and other elected representatives if they have queries on behalf of their constituents. The DVLA aims to reply to correspondence from MPs …
HM Treasury
3
Recommendation
Forty-first Report - Driving licence ba…
Accepted
The DVLA’s efforts to encourage customers who can use online services to do so are not sufficient. Some customers need the option of applying for a driving licence using a paper form, but the DVLA assesses that around 60% of customers who apply on paper could have applied online. In …
Government response. The department will develop an ambitious set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) through which the department can hold them to account for the delivery of their plans and business-as-usual performance and will hold the DVLA to account for take-up of …
HM Treasury
4
Recommendation
Forty-first Report - Driving licence ba…
Accepted
The DVLA gave insufficient attention to those driving licence service areas, such as medical notifications and its call centre, where staffing challenges led to the most detrimental consequences for customers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the DVLA prioritised services with the highest volumes of applications or where it believed processing delays …
Government response. The DVLA prioritises its core functions while using its systems and equipment to help other government departments deliver their targets where feasible and works closely with the DVLA to ensure there are no negative consequences on its core purpose.
HM Treasury
6
Recommendation
Forty-first Report - Driving licence ba…
Accepted
The Department and the DVLA have not taken a strategic approach to maintaining and improving the infrastructure, estate and processes that the DVLA’s performance depends on. The Department has taken a hands-off approach to the DVLA, failing to ensure that its services are periodically reviewed and improved through timely adoption …
Government response. The DVLA already has a strategy in place to further develop its digital driver licensing services for driver licensing and, in addition to continuing to improve the accessibility and usability of its online services, the DVLA is also transforming its …
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
Forty-first Report - Driving licence ba…
Accepted
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Transport (the Department) and the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (the DVLA) on the scale and nature of the backlogs in driving licence applications, the underlying causes and the DVLA’s actions …
Government response. The DVLA already has systems in place to identify and prioritise driving licence applications and will prioritise cases where the DVLA has been provided with evidence that a driving licence or identity documents submitted are required urgently. With additional resource, …
HM Treasury
7
Conclusion
Forty-first Report - Driving licence ba…
Accepted
We are also aware of other cases from our constituency work, for example of people being unable to work after a five-month wait for a driving licence and a bus driver threatened with losing his job because of delays at the DVLA. Other constituents have lost income or not been …
Government response. The DVLA has systems in place to identify and prioritise driving licence applications and will prioritize cases where the DVLA has been provided with evidence that a driving licence or identity documents submitted are required urgently. With additional resource, the …
HM Treasury
8
Conclusion
Forty-first Report - Driving licence ba…
Accepted
The Department acknowledged in the session that the human stories behind these cases can be genuinely very difficult, commenting that “this is not just a numbers game. It is not just about processing and backlogs. It is about real people and the impact that not being able to get a …
Government response. The DVLA already has systems to prioritize urgent driving license applications and will triage medical cases to ensure quick processing and expedite responses from medical professionals where possible.
HM Treasury
10
Recommendation
Forty-first Report - Driving licence ba…
Accepted
The stress and frustration customers felt as a result came across as a clear theme in the written evidence our inquiry received from members of the public. For example, one person told us “Having no contact was useless because for all I knew, my application could’ve been lost in the …
Government response. The DVLA publishes information on the quickest way to transact on GOV.UK and during the pandemic published estimated processing times for key services. Information relating to section 88 and how someone may be able to continue driving while their application …
HM Treasury
11
Recommendation
Forty-first Report - Driving licence ba…
Accepted
Many customers went to their MPs for help: complaints received via MPs increased from 2,600 per year in the two years before the pandemic, to 26,800 in 2021–22. The DVLA explained to us that people were coming to MPs because they found it difficult to get through to the DVLA. …
Government response. The DVLA has a dedicated telephone line and email service for MPs and other elected representatives, aiming to reply to correspondence from MPs within eight working days.
HM Treasury
12
Conclusion
Forty-first Report - Driving licence ba…
Accepted
The DVLA told us it has recently modernised its telephony systems, so in future it should be able to cope better with surges in demand. For example, with the new system it can more easily increase the number of telephone lines available. However, the DVLA cautioned that installing a new …
Government response. The government says that the DVLA already has a strategy to develop its digital driver licensing services and has invested in new online services.
HM Treasury
15
Recommendation
Forty-first Report - Driving licence ba…
Accepted
We are concerned that the DVLA does not have a more active strategy for encouraging customers to switch from paper to online services, relying on customers to decide themselves to make this transition rather than proactively encouraging and supporting them do so.30 Although the DVLA told us it has seen …
Government response. The DVLA has launched ten new online services during the pandemic and has run four paid campaigns promoting online services since the beginning of the pandemic. The DfT will support the DVLA in gaining the relevant approvals for further paid …
HM Treasury
19
Recommendation
Forty-first Report - Driving licence ba…
Accepted
The DVLA told us how it undertakes work for other parts of government to make best use of the DVLA’s infrastructure, expertise and the spare capacity becoming available as customers switch from paper to online applications. For example, it produces biometric residency permits for the Home Office, and it printed …
Government response. The Department states that it works closely with the DVLA to ensure that taking on work for other government departments has no negative consequences on the DVLA's core purpose.
HM Treasury
21
Recommendation
Forty-first Report - Driving licence ba…
Accepted
Customers experiencing problems after notifying the DVLA of medical conditions have consistently been the main source of complaints to the DVLA since 2018–19. In 2021–22, around 53% of all complaints to the DVLA were in this category, rising to 68% in the first half of 2022–23.42 We raised concerns that …
Government response. The government states that the number of medical licensing cases has returned to normal levels, with many decisions made quickly, but the remaining delays are due to waiting for information from third parties like the NHS.
HM Treasury
26
Conclusion
Forty-first Report - Driving licence ba…
Accepted
We challenged the DVLA and the Department about their strategy for future of the DVLA. The Department told us that conversations are happening about what the future of driving licence services should look like. We heard that the DVLA will need to become more resilient to anticipated changes in the …
Government response. The DVLA has been digital for years, and online services worked well during the pandemic. The DVLA already has a strategy to develop digital driver licensing services, investing in new online services and communications.
HM Treasury