DVLA plan may hit costs
Page 6
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
/ Government plans to privatise large chunks of the DVLA have sparked fears that drivers and operators may end up paying more for licensing and excise applications and renewals.
A leaked confidential paper from DVLA chief executive Stephen Curtis outlines plans to contract out many of the agency's functions — including LGV and PCV licensing.
But there are fears that in a competitive environment the customer could end up paying more for services and standards of administration could slip.
Clive Rees, Swansea branch chairman of the civil service union CPSA, says there is a very real possibility of customers' costs going up: "Remember that contractors will be looking to make money on what they do, which isn't the case at the moment," he says. The DVLA is not even self-financing — its expenditure of £191m is offset by a
fee income of only £50m.
Rees believes that management would find a network of contractors much harder to control than the current DVLA framework.
LI Drivers and operators could be applying for vehicle excise licenses and paying excise duty to private companies from 1994. The DVLA has invited tenders for the business, currently handled by the Post Office, which is worth E61m a year.