§ Mr. Donald AndersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the quality of performance of Post Office Counters Ltd. in respect of the contract on dishonoured cheques in payment of vehicle excise duty.
§ Mr. Kenneth CarlisleDuring negotiations toward the current contract for vehicle relicensing, Post Office Counters Ltd. offered to take over responsibility for following up dishonoured cheques made payable to it. This work had previously been carried out by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency but the POCL price was significantly lower. The contract provides for financial penalties to be payable by POCL from 1 January 1993 for any failure to meet performance levels previously achieved by DVLA's staff.