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Focus on You - DVLA

25 June 2010

PCS members work in hundreds of different government departments, agencies and private sector companies but we often struggle with the same issues. Each month we ask a different group of members WhatÂ’s it like working at Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

What is the best thing about working for DVLA?

The people of course! Generally speaking we pull together and most people are more than willing to help with any work-related issue. Many of us met our lifelong friends and partners at work. Most people in Swansea know someone who works or has worked for the DVLA.

It used to be an advantage to work for such a large organisation in Swansea because you could try a variety of different jobs throughout your career and stay with the same employer.

These days, internal transfers are far more difficult and of course it has always been harder in the local office network.

What are the main issues facing members at DVLA?

Members at DVLA have the lowest rates of pay in the Department for Transport (DfT) and 3% of us earn less than £20,000 a year. The DVLA has a far higher proportion of female staff than elsewhere in the department so the net effect across the DfT as a whole is that women suffer unequal pay. PCS has supported hundreds of members to take their cases to an employment tribunal to redress this imbalance.

The DfT shared services centre (SSC) is located at DVLA Swansea and workers there are on DVLA pay, terms and conditions. The DfT announced on 22 May that it would consider the future of the SSC with the possibility of privatisation.

The annual staff turnover at the DVLA means that the recruitment freeze could result in around 300-400 job losses over 12 months.

What are the top three priorities for DVLA members over the next few months?

  1. To win fair and equal pay.
  2. To protect the jobs of our members in the SSC.
  3. To resist any cuts that might threaten the quality of the public services we provide, and the jobs and wellbeing of the staff who provide them, both in Swansea and our local office network.

Can you tell us about any recent successes?

The absence management regime has become stricter over the years, with the trigger points for sickness absence warnings being reduced and sickness absence being linked to performance related pay.

We recently established that the agency had been applying first stage warnings incorrectly according to its own rules. Members who have been issued warnings incorrectly should have these removed from their records.

Are there any practical ways in which readers can support DVLA staff?

Like civil servants everywhere, DVLA staff members are generally hard working and try to do the best they can, often in difficult circumstances. We suffered over 500 job losses as a result of the Gershon report under the last government, but more is always expected from fewer staff. We would ask the public to recognise that.

The DVLA is one of the biggest employers in Swansea and any threat to jobs at the Swansea headquarters is a threat to the whole community. The loss of the SSC would have implications for the whole of the DfT. We know that we can count on PCS colleagues for any support we might need in terms of campaigning and lobbying, for example.

What does DVLA do?

DVLA maintains a register of drivers and a register of vehicles for the whole of Britain. We issue driving licences and collect vehicle excise duty. We have over 6,000 staff with around 4,500 in Swansea and another 1,500 at 39 local offices all over the country.