16
Conclusion
Forty-first Report - Driving licence ba…
Not Addressed
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the DVLA prioritised those services with the highest volumes of applications or where it believed processing delays would cause greater problems. The DVLA told us that in 2020, it prioritised reducing the backlog in paper applications for vehicle-related transactions, because at the time, these backlogs were …
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, the DVLA prioritised those services with the highest volumes of applications or where it believed processing delays would cause greater problems. The DVLA told us that in 2020, it prioritised reducing the backlog in paper applications for vehicle-related transactions, because at the time, these backlogs were a bigger problem than the backlog in paper-based driving licence applications. The DVLA prioritised vehicle services because of the higher volume of vehicle-related work, in the knowledge that it would have a knock-on effect on driving licence services. The DVLA told us that to address backlogs in driving licence applications, its approach was to arrange a change to the law that meant no customers needed to renew licences that expired in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.33
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Government response AI summary
The response discusses the success of the DVLA's online services during the pandemic and the challenges with paper applications and medical applications, but it doesn't address the prioritisation decisions made during the pandemic.
Read full response →
HM Treasury
17
Conclusion
Forty-first Report - Driving licence ba…
Not Addressed
The DVLA’s system for managing paper-based driving licence applications relies on people being on site to manually process applications. The DVLA and the Department told us that when they determined priorities in 2020, they knew this system was susceptible to disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that the solution was …
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The DVLA’s system for managing paper-based driving licence applications relies on people being on site to manually process applications. The DVLA and the Department told us that when they determined priorities in 2020, they knew this system was susceptible to disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that the solution was investment in the estate to enable more DVLA staff to return to work on site to process paper applications.34 Around a decade before, the DVLA had reduced and centralised its office space, which saved money but also reduced its resilience. The DVLA told us that, “for many years, it absolutely worked and was the right decision” but that in a pandemic, it meant the DVLA became susceptible to local levels of infection.35 The Department told us that by March 2022, the DVLA had enabled around 2,500 staff working on other services, such as vehicle services, to work remotely, despite none being able to do so before the COVID-19 pandemic. At the start of 2020, the DVLA had piloted remote working for some service areas and started to roll out laptops, but most staff on site still used desktop computers.36
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Government response AI summary
The response discusses the success of the DVLA's online services during the pandemic and the challenges with paper applications and medical applications but does not address the DVLA's reliance on in-person processing of paper applications.
Read full response →
HM Treasury