DVLA taking ‘extremely seriously’ claims hundreds of staff were on full pay but not working
The DVLA is taking “extremely seriously”, claims that hundreds of staff were on full pay but not working during an application backlog crisis.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency responded to an in-depth undercover investigation by The Times , insisting allegations against its 6,000-strong staff are “not representative of the hardworking culture” there.
This comes after the agency was hit by a backlog of applications, peaking at 1.6m cases last September, meaning hundreds-of-thousands have been inconvenienced, unable to drive or prevented from working.
This was impacted by coronavirus measures and subsequent industrial action regarding on-site working conditions.
The investigation claims that of its 4,500 full-time staff, less the half were working on site during the pandemic – while many others didn’t have access to its computer systems, while continuing from home.
The report also alleges that even staff who came into work during the pandemic were given paid days off because of a lack of space, to allow for social distancing measures.
A DVLA spokesperson told City PM: “We take the allegations made extremely seriously and are urgently investigating.
“These claims are not representative of the hardworking culture in DVLA, nor are they a true reflection of the 6,000 plus staff who have worked incredibly hard to help keep the country moving throughout the pandemic.”
The agency said it had invested £6m in Covid safety protocol, and it was “nonsense” to say technology was a cause for staff not being able to work from home.
The Times’ undercover reporter was hired by the DVLA in January to take calls, and cites one trainer who said she found it “hard to motivate yourself in the house”. The trainer is quoted as having responded to a manager’s request to complete a task, by commenting, “you’re interrupting my series on Netflix.”
DVLA also dismissed claims there was a big backlog in paper applications, saying the “vast majority of transactions are carried out online”, and that physical applications for vehicles are now back to “normal processing times.”
The Department for Transport has been asked for comment.