Government motoring agencies - the user perspective - Transport Committee Contents


Summary

The Government's motoring agencies provide services to motorists, businesses, enforcement bodies and others. The agencies are undergoing reorganisation and are introducing digital services; both changes have potential to bring welcome improvements for all users of the agencies' services. The digital services being developed are popular and well used and we welcome the multi-channel approach being taken by the agencies.

The Government has a mixed approach to organisational change in the agencies with different emphasis on efficiency savings, restructuring, and private sector involvement across the agencies. The Government needs to do more to explain the future direction for all the motoring agencies and how it will create a more unified service for users.

The agencies respond effectively to the needs of most users but could do more to recognise and respond to the needs of business users.

There are a number of specific areas that require action by the Government and its motoring agencies:

·  the driver Certificate of Professional Competence may not be delivering all the benefits expected of it and the Government should negotiate changes at a European level;

·  the agencies need to have effective assisted digital strategies in place to help those who cannot or are unwilling to use the internet to access services as new digital services are developed and rolled out;

·  the agencies need to work with the Government Digital Service and others to address the problem of misleading copycat websites, which charge motorists for services that are available free from official websites;

·  the DVLA needs to do more to explain how it is required to share personal data with private parking companies and the safeguards that are in place to protect such data;

·  the DVLA needs to adjust the fees it charges to ensure costs are covered and do more to explain how it calculates its costs and fees; and

·  data sharing needs to be effective, especially given policy changes such as those on tax discs and driving licences, if revenue collection, action on safety and work by enforcement agencies are to be effective, and new services need to be planned with data sharing in mind.



 
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Prepared 7 October 2014