Talk:Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

From Bicyclic (talk) 11:14, 9 September 2021 (UTC) Today is 9 Sept 2021. I applied for my driving licence renewal (due to age) online on 3 Aug 2021. I sent in my old licence, cut in half, the next day by registered mail. Their online status checker still says they are waiting for it, in spite of Royal Mail tracking showing that it was signed for at their end. I sent a chaser by the same means, still no change or acknowledgement. I have tried countless times to get through on the phone, including starting to try as soon as their office open hours start. I have never once got through. I have recently read that DVLA have a backlog of 800,000 mail items and 60,000 new ones arrive ech day. To me, it seems they are in a situation they cannot get out of.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/jun/26/uk-drivers-dvla-licences-delays#comment-150227504

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/jul/03/dvla-delays-call-for-licence-extensions-as-complaints-flood-in

Also, morale is reported to be rock bottom there, with 3 days/week working and many staff off due to ill-health. There are numbers of extremely adverse stories online on various motoring related forums which describe how bad the service is and how they are effectively uncontactable. After all, they do not provide an email address for contact purposes! In this day and age! There is now a government petition to parliament stating that "the DVLA is not fit for purpose" that has now passed the 10,000 signatures needed in order to obliges a government reponse. I have had other dealings with the DVLA in the past, to do with re-registering old vehicles, and their responses have been very inconsistent from case to case, with an an inflexible "not prepared to listen" attitude evident. To me the DVLA is a failing organisation. It suffers from a siege mentality that is not appropriate for a major public service. I do feel the wiki web page should reflect DVLA's current problems much better than at present, though I'm so aggravated that I might not be the best person to descibe them. Bicyclic (talk) 11:14, 9 September 2021 (UTC)

Point of View
On 27 October 2008 Cameron Scott questioned whether "problems at the DVLA" was an attack piece. Please discuss here whether you feel the section should be rewritten. Saesfool 23:00, 26 December 2008

Medical checks
Isn't the DVLA responsible for ensuring that people driving are medically fit to do so? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.133.199.243 (talk • contribs) 10:36, 17 May 2005
 * Yes, it has a department called the Drivers' Medical Branch (if I recall correctly) that handles this. If anyone wants to expand the article to mention this, go ahead! Sidefall 20:59, 1 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Reference: http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/Fitness-to-Drive.htm

Fair use rationale for Image:DVLA logo.gif
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Computer System
The low accuracy of the current DVLA database is alluded to in the article. I'd like to see more on this subject. I believe that the database was originally computerised by ICL in the 1970s, and the project had major problems. It was notable as one of the first UK government IT projects and would be worthy of a mention here. Can anyone help? Sidefall 20:57, 1 September 2007 (UTC)

more sources
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7132278.stm http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/01/07/dvla_fails_in_reverse_domain/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/citydiary/2838414/City-Diary.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/2722068/DVLA-to-repay-wrongly-charged-drivers.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1330075/DVLA-sells-data-to-car-park-clampers.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1475082/DVLA-mole-jailed-for-aiding-guinea-pig-farm-activists.html http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4214281.stm http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/2731505/Plans-for-new-DVLA-fees-slammed-as-stealth-tax.html

'Road' tax
Shouldn't the reference to 'road tax' be corrected to 'car tax'? Tractorfeed1961 (talk) 12:52, 15 June 2011 (UTC) I'd suggest 'vehicle tax' as it also applies to bikes and vans etc.

External links modified
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DVLA fines, seizures and civil penalties
Any editors wish to add to this section? Civil Rights groups and the press have been scathing about these erosions of Human Rights, surprised there has not been comment up till now. Crawiki (talk) 13:44, 10 December 2017 (UTC) Crawiki (talk) 13:44, 10 December 2017 (UTC)
 * The section is very one sided and makes some conclusions not supported by its sources, it should be rewritten in a more encyclopedic tone. Toasted Meter (talk) 16:42, 10 December 2017 (UTC)


 * I know it's mostly criticisms. But to balance it, do you know of any source that offers praise of the way DVLA treats motorists? Would love to say something complementary, but the procedures it adopts simply breach the law, amounting to defrauding motorists of about £2 million per year.Crawiki (talk) 22:49, 10 December 2017 (UTC)
 * I think the section needs to go altogether, it's irredeemably POV. Stifle (talk) 12:56, 17 January 2018 (UTC)
 * WP:NPOV recommendations are to delete only as a last resort, yet you deleted as a first resort. Have you done any research to try and correct the POV you perceive? Also, 'most' is not 'all'. Unjustified to delete the entire section.Crawiki (talk) 18:36, 17 January 2018 (UTC)
 * no response from stifle so have restored this section, with favourable stats to restore neutrality Crawiki (talk) 12:42, 25 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Are any more recent cites available? All the cites for the unfavorable section are between 8 and 11 years old, it would be nice to see a more current view of the issue. The "despite the Bill of Rights 1689" bit is also questionable, with no cite it feels like original research, and even with a cite if it did violate the law you would expect the courts to strike it down. Toasted Meter (talk) 14:24, 25 January 2018 (UTC)

Toasted meter is very naive. I have challenged the dvla myself in the county court. The judge brazenly said that dvla fines are 'actually a tax in disguise'. Human Rights? The UK ain't got them. Crawiki (talk) 16:11, 18 February 2019 (UTC)

DVLA 'customers'?
DVLA annual report and accounts refer to 'our customers'. A customer is the purchaser of a good or service. Those who pay licence fees to the DVLA are surely taxpayers not customers. Valid point for inclusion here?Crawiki (talk) 19:25, 17 January 2018 (UTC) Crawiki (talk) 19:25, 17 January 2018 (UTC)