HC Deb 20 July 1993 vol 229 cc89-90W
Mr. Beggs

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made in establishing the executive agency within the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland to carry out the work of driver and vehicle licensing in Northern Ireland.

Mr. Atkins

I am pleased to announce that the agency, which will be called Driver and Vehicle Licensing Northern Ireland, will be established on 2 August 1993. It will assume responsibility for the registration and licensing of vehicles and the collection and enforcement of vehicle excise duty in Northern Ireland on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport and for licensing of drivers in Northern Ireland.

I am confident that the new status as a next steps agency will produce significant improvements in the provision of this important service. I am delegating full managerial authority for the agency's day-to-day operations to the chief executive. The policy and resource framework for the agency is set out in the framework document, copies of which are being placed in the Library of the House. For 1993–94, the following targets have been set out for the agency:

1. Turnaround Times

  1. (a) Vehicle Licensing
    1. (1) Registration Books for new vehicles: to achieve a yearly average of 90 per cent. of books dispatched within 16 working days of receipt of the application and not exceeding 17 working days in any one month.
    2. (2) Refunds of vehicle excise duty: to achieve a yearly average of 90 per cent. of refunds dispatched within 11 working days of receipt of the application and not exceeding 12 working days in any one month.
    3. (3) Postal Licensing: to achieve a yearly average of 90 per cent. of licences dispatched within six working days of receipt of the application and not exceeding eight working days in any one month.
    4. (4) Duplicate Registration Books: to achieve a yearly average of 90 per cent. of books dispatched within six working days of receipt of the application and not exceeding seven working days in any one month.
    5. (5) Changes to Registration Books: to achieve a yearly average of 95 per cent. of amended books dispatched within eight working days of receipts of the application and not exceeding 10 working days in any one month.
  2. (b) Driver Licencing
    • Turnaround targets exclude cases requiring referral for medical or conduct recommendations.
    1. (1) Ordinary Driving Licences: to achieve a yearly average of 90 per cent. of licences dispatched within 11 working days of receipt of the application and not exceeding 12 working days in any one month.
    2. (2) Vocational Driving Licences: to achieve a yearly average of 95 per cent. of licences dispatched within 11 working days of receipt of the application and not exceeding 13 working days in any one month.
    3. (3) Provisional Driving Licences: to achieve a yearly average of 90 per cent. of licences dispatched within 10 working days and not exceeding 12 working days in any one month.
    90
  3. (c) Written Enquiries
    • 90 per cent. to be dispatched within five working days of receipt.
  4. 2. Waiting Time at Local Vehicle Licensing offices
Maximum waiting time (minutes)
Peak Period
(First 8 and last 2 working days of each month) 25
Other working days 10
  1. 3. Error Rates
    • Reduction of error rate (errors on any item sent out by the Agency) to 0.6 per cent. of total Agency output.
  2. 4. Unit cost of Vehicle Excise Enforcement Cases
    • Achievement of a unit cost of £22–12 (at 1992–93 prices) per vehicle excise. enforcement case completed.
  3. 5. Aggregate Unit Cost and Efficiency Indicator
  1. (1) Achievement of an aggregate unit cost calculated on the basis of cost per standard hour of work of £2637 (at 1992–93 prices).
  2. (2) Achievement of an efficiency saving of at least 4.29 per cent.