HC Deb 22 January 1996 vol 270 cc31-2W
Mr. Allen

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many chief executives there have been at the Driving Standards Agency in the last five years. [10485]

Mr. Norris

Prior to the current chief executive who joined DSA in April 1995 there have been two substantive DSA chief executives in the last five years.

Mr. Allen

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if the salary of the chief executive of the Driving Standards Agency is linked to the performance of the agency. [10486]

Mr. Norris

Yes

Mr. Allen

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if the loss of the Driving Standards Agency's chartermark will affect the chief executive's salary. [10487]

Mr. Norris

The recent loss of the charter mark by DSA was mainly due to the fact that car driving test waiting times were exceeding the DSA service standard, and DSA was also failing to meet certain other customer service targets such as speed of telephone answering. The chief executive's salary partly depends on achievement of such standards and targets, and will be reduced as a result of their non-achievement.

Mr. Allen

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what action he is taking to improve service levels at the Driving Standards Agency following the recent loss of the charter mark award; [10490]

(2) what plans he has to address service problems at the Driving Standards Agency; [10489]

(3) if he will instruct the Driving Standards Agency to improve its telephone system. [10694]

Mr. Norris

I have reviewed the situation at DSA and authorised the following actions to improve service levels.The recruitment of 25 per cent. additional staff to increase staff numbers on the telephones and the installation of new technology phone systems which distribute calls to the booking clerks more efficiently. Recruitment and training of additional contract examiners to reduce test waiting times. These are being taken on at an average of 10 per month. Steps to reduce the number of short notice test cancellations, including measures to achieve reductions in staff sick absence. A new compensation code for candidates whose tests have been cancelled at short notice has been implemented. Improvement in external communications with the introduction of an external newsletter and a range of other measures. The implementation of customer satisfaction tracking later this year and other new systems to improve the handling of complaints.