Grumbles from the Gearbox
Where have the DVSA gone?
Should we call in Inspector Clouseau to help us in our search, maybe his ineptitude is what is required in these exceptional circumstances?
Where is the DVSA?
"Where is the DVSA", I hear people asking all over the place, what happened to them, why am I paying these fees and getting nothing in return? It is not just ADIs like me either, there are trainers for everything that has wheels and an engine that needs a licence to operate it safely. Busses, Lorries, motorbikes, tractors, trailer drawers, Taxis, the list goes on and on and on....
There is a huge industry out there that are waiting for someone at the top of the DVSA tree to stand up and be counted.
There is a huge industry out there that are waiting for someone at the top of the DVSA tree to stand up and be counted.
Over the years since its creation there have been a series of CEOs in office that have come in to fiddle and tinker with a system that worked really quite well without any of them being born at all and yet each one has made their mark like a scratch on the surface to deep gouges with a scraper being mishandled on new plaster, or a beautician using a garden fork to apply foundation cream. Their current incumbent seems to be like the invisible man, anyone know where he is, or what he is doing for those who pay his salary and come to that any of the senior members of his royal court?
Let's just look at some of the figures for the car driving test, shall we.
1,900,000 driving tests @ £62 each..............................£117,800,000
2,100,000 theory tests @ £23 each..............................£48,300,000 Fully understand that bulk goes to contractor.
ADI licence renewal £300 x10,000 (40,000x 25%) . ....£3,000,000
PDI licence applications..................................................£????
HGV Tests 656,000
Taxi
Coach
Motorbike
MoT 37,800,000 taken each year and the licence fees from these.
Stop press I have just received a message from our roving reporter on the other laptop in the south.... the annual receipts for the DVSA are................£387,585,000....this figure is truly staggering. I fully understand that there are expenses and running costs to be taken into account here but, and this is a massive BUT, the DVSA received nearly a whopping great
400-MILLION POUNDS in 2017-2018
This is from people who are paying the wages of the execs at the DVSA who have vanished into thin air. Not a single company and lets face it, that is exactly what the DVSA are, they are a company set up by HMG to run the licencing system for vehicles in the UK, would treat their customers like this and expect to survive. Unless you are a monopoly, and then you can ignore all, and do what you like just as long as you keep the flies away.
We have seen Mr Walsh who is the big cheese at British Airways, we have seen Captains of industry for companies across the UK, Europe, America, we see daily heads of Government departments, teaching unions, railway leaders, nursing and nhs folk of all levels but where is the invisible man and his invisible team.
They shove middle and lower echelons of management out to cover key-worker tests that have the training to do them as well as the enforcement officers because all members of the examining staff with an underlying health condition are not allowed (as I understand it) out to meet the public for fear of catching COVID19.
I am putting the case for the ADIs out here and the poor PDIs who have been forgotten about completely in this instance. Driving Instructors are not stupid, we know that the wind changes, we know the tide goes out as well as coming in and that the seasons change, the temperature rises and falls. We are not expecting or looking for having a big cuddle but we would like to know, along with all the DVSA's forgotten customers, WHERE DO WE STAND AND WHAT ARE WE ALLOWED TO DO!!
The questions are painfully simple to answer:
1). Are we allowed to teach at the present?
2). What are the laws at present, will we be prosecuted for giving driving lessons?
3). If we are prosecuted for giving driving lessons will we;
a). Be reported to the registrar and
b). be under threat of removal from the register.
4). Are the current bookings for June and July for non key-worker tests going to stand or will they be cancelled again?
5). When does the DVSA foresee that the test centres will be open again. We fully accept that this is in a sense a bit of wishful thinking and is a movable date if things go belly up, the 'R' figure rises above one and the exponential expansion of the spread of COVID19 begins again but at least we would be singing off the same song sheet and we would know that the DVSA understood the plight of the driving instructor and all those that are in the driver training industry in one form or another.
We have the threat of the new app that the HMG will want us to download onto our phones and yet the DVSA have said nothing to us on this. ADIs will be downloading the 'Track and Trace' app yet do they realise that they could be back at work for just a week or two, possibly even less and the phone will ring telling us that we need to go into isolation as we have been in contact with someone who has COVID19. What is our situation then. Will we be monitored by a government agency and be reported to the DVSA for working whilst being told to isolate and be under threat of removal from the register?
There is a lot being said about the concerns for mental health, do the DVSA not see what this is doing to instructors and their families. There are people without an income out here, their cars and homes are at risk. These are proud people who have good standing and reputations in their local communities and they are on the verge of being destitute, some may have already crossed that line while Mr. Llewellyn receives his large salary and has another cucumber sandwich dodging the queues at the food bank which are growing exponentially according to some that I know and work in them. Men and women who have studied hard to qualify, worked long hours to build up their own business only to see it all withering away in front of their eyes and there is nothing they can do about it or plan ahead because their big boss appears to have disappeared and abandoned them. This is heartbreaking and soul destroying with all the hallmarks of breakdowns and severe depression for individuals and families.
Have the DVSA no idea what this is doing to people out there on the sharp end of our business. These people need information so they can plan, so they can see a light, so they know that there is someone out there shouting their corner and what do we get from Nottingham? ZZZZZzzzzzZZZzzZZZzzzz
So many questions and so little in the way of answers, when was any body, professional or otherwise ever treated with so little respect? Why - why do we not get any answers to our questions, what have we done to be ignored? Who did a poop on his doorstep, own up?
One of my main concerns is that this is creating such a 'them and us' situation that the examiners, who are the DVSA's front line staff, will bear the brunt of it and this is so unfair. Examiners are in the main a great bunch of people and we are all working together to the same end. They are our colleagues and we respect their position as their treatment is just as bad as ours, if not worse, as was pointed out in our recent blog.
We were delighted to see the ADINJC switching away from their original stance on the COVID19 crisis and joining us in advising members to stay indoors and condemning the issues arising out of the recent crisis. It was great to see them taking up also our challenge on the use of screens in instructors cars and the dangers this causes, thank you as all support helps and a unified approach to the issues is more productive. They even appear to have turned their back on the silly voluntary register, well done to them, it takes courage to change your mind. Finally we also welcome their letter yesterday aligning their views with our recent request for information from Mr Llewellyn at the dvsa.
Once again, thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope you and all yours are well and keeping safe during this crisis. We will make it together.
Stay Home - Stay Safe - Save Lives.
The DVsA response to recent media criticism about the current test waiting times is to throw in the kitchen sink - but, is this the right solution?
Are the DvSA morally bankrupt?
Why bother, the job is not what it used to be?
Where on earth does the dvsa thinking come from, we know where it belongs?
The AADI is offering to help the dvsa with its poor public image to help clear up some confusing issues on the driving test for driving instructors and learners in the UK and make their lives easier.
AADI advising the dvsa, and they are at last listening.
Did the dvsa go too far opening new theory centres when tests are not available?
We are all Ambassadors for our chosen profession
Dear dvsa,
DVSA thanks for all the recent emails,... keeping us ADIs up to date. I should like to discuss with you a few of the points that you have raised.
"It is all our fault (the ADI) that the booking system is in chaos and our fault that candidates are not turning up for the test".
how the dvsa fails its customers on a daily basis
