I wouldn’t be surprised if DVLA gets relocated to another part of the country at some stage.
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The critical shortage of HGV drivers is set to get worse, with union members set to vote on further strike action*at the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency*(DVLA).
The Road Haulage Association (RHA) warned on Wednesday night that the possible industrial action "could not come at a worse time" and would aggravate*the driver shortage*that has led to*empty supermarket shelves*and a*fuel crisis.
The DVLA said any strike action would hold "millions of drivers to ransom". The Government agency is currently working through*a backlog of a reported 50,000 vocational driving licences*stretching back more than two months.
But the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) at the DVLA's offices in Swansea will vote in the coming weeks on further industrial action over fears that 2,500 staff working in its offices are at risk of Covid.
DVLA staff working from home due to the pandemic – currently about 3,500 – are not allowed to handle driving licence applications or medical certificates needed to issue HGV licences.
I wouldn’t be surprised if DVLA gets relocated to another part of the country at some stage.
Sad;ly you are right If PCS Union General Secretary Mark Serwotka has it way and 6 thousand jobs will be lost , they have spent 4.1 million making the building safe with all sorts of screens etc they have had one recorded Covid death and 500 positives but not all caught in work
There is 56,000 HGV /Bus drivers applications and 1.4 million applications sitting on desks , only 40% of staff are going into work , sadly due to the nature of the work you cant work remotely as you have use secure database servers .
58 days of strike so far this year getting £40 per day strike pay they are backed by a number of Labour MP's let hope the jobs are not lost as that will really hurt those at the DVLA and all those support industries, perhaps Mark Drakeford could remind them of those job risks ,best they don't apply for Supermarket , Postman, Bus Driver , NHS jobs if they do become redundant as they gamely kept on working through the worst of this .
It's not good enough, but there are a few public sector organisations who have struggled on service delivery on this. DVLA seem to be being used as a pawn between unions and the govt/public who need them. My Dad has a blue badge and has basically been off the road for two months due to some DVLA issue. There's a degree of tolerance about it due to Covid, but when it becomes a political battle, it's just frustrating. Get on with it.
In fairness, they are also caught between two competing messages on WFH.
Personally I think Drakeford is wrong to continue to specifically ask for WFH instead of allowing businesses and organisations to decide, and to put in safe working practices as in England.
Working conditions poor ?
Flexible hours working .
Up to 30 days Annual Leave Ex Bank Holidays
26 weeks of maternity or a share parents up to 50 weeks
Good pensions
Paid Special leave
Onsite child care and vouchers help
Onsite Gym
Free eyesight costs
Advance /help salary towards cycle purchases and transport costs
Staff discounts
long term employment
Salary 25 ish up can climb to 58k for managers in 6/7 grades
usual 5 day a week Mon to Fri very flexible industry to help with home life
I get fed up with ridiculous straw-man arguments like this. Clearly in saying "get on with it" it means "find a solution".
I acknowledged the DVLA is caught in a difficult place. Can't you show a degree of balance in your response? There is (according to some) a food shortage due to a lack of HGV drivers, and there is a massive backlog which does interrupt peoples lives a great deal. As mentioned, my disabled father is currently off the road awaiting clearance from the DVLA.
Also, everything you mention applies to pretty much every public sector job going, so the fact it's only affecting the DVLA shows that it is facing particular issues, but also that those issues may not be entirely related to the topics you raise.
So I repeat, with greater clarity...Get on with it (and find a solution)
Yes many times, they are very old in their nature built 1969 I think ? Like a lot of government buildings they are tough to maintain and its not great , the worse I've seen and this is recent is the administration offices at the Heath . I've been in the Taxes Llanishen , ONS , Patent Office , Passports Newport, WAG Cathays . Merthyr WAG , Bay WAG.
Some are very ageing indeed .
Not been in the DVLA since the recent 4.1 million expenditure to provide a safer working environment , 4.1 million must have delivered some improvements .
There are very secured serves at DVLA and GDPR / data protection is very high which you would struggle to do all of it at home , as you may no , isn't that your world Government ??
Yes, I acknowledge that..but the response to ambiguity isn't to accuse someone of not caring about "yourself, your family, your loved ones and your colleagues at risk, forget dilapidated buildings and shitty working conditions, forget underfunding and poor pay"
That's just classic strawman stuff.