§ Mr. Gowasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the establishment for the number of civil servants at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre at Swansea; what is the average delay in replying to letters sent to the centre by members of the public; and what proposals he has to increase the efficiency of the centre.
§ Mr. MarksThe approved staff complement was 5,214 at 31st December 1975, the latest date for which a figure is presently available.
The average time taken to reply to letters varies.
The Centre's Driver Enquiry Unit typically handles an average of 3,000 letters a week. An interim reply or acknowledgement is sent within three-four days in reply to most of them, and a full reply within two-three weeks; letters relating to complex cases—for example medical cases—sometimes take longer than this. The Centre's Vehicle Enquiry Unit is receiving some 5,000 letters a week at present.
Again, the turn round time varies from about two weeks to six weeks or more, 412W largely a reflection of the fact that on the vehicle side recruitment and training of new staff is far from complete. Replies should be sent more quickly as the staff concerned become more experienced.
Much has already been done to improve the Centre's efficiency.Things have now settled down well on the driver side, and the introduction of "till-70" licensing will improve matters further. A programme of improvements on the vehicles side is well under way, and I expect the level of performance on that side to approach the level of performance on the driver side—currently running at 98 per cent. turn round within 10 working days—over the next few months.
§ Mr. Giles Shawasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the average length of time of processing an application for a road fund licence for motor vehicles registered after 1st August 1971 at the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Centre at Swansea.
§ Mr. MarksThree to five working days; but well over 80 per cent. of all licences for vehicles registered at the Centre are issued by post offices and local vehicle licensing offices, the vast majority over the counter.
§ Mr. Giles Shawasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many applications for road fund licences have been dealt with by the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Centre far each of the last six months for which figures are available.
§ Mr. MarksAs follows:
July 1975 11,322 August 1975 19,351 September 1975 28,671 October 1975 73,970 November 1975 56,692 December 1975 62,564 These figures exclude licences issued by the Centre's outstationed local vehicle licensing offices and agent post offices.