HL Deb 14 July 2004 vol 663 cc154-6WA

Baroness Masham of Ilton asked Her Majesty's Government:

What steps they are taking to reduce the waiting time for members of the public telephoning the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. [HL3507]

Lord Davies of Oldham:

DVLA has improved the automated advice system, added extra 95 telephone lines and deployed extra staff on its vehicle service.

Baroness Masham of Ilton asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the average waiting time for members of the public telephoning the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. [HL3508]

Lord Davies of Oldham:

During the early part of this year the inquiry section at DVLA had to cope with volumes of calls far higher than expected as a result of the introduction of continuous registration. During that period customers had to wait an average of 49 seconds to speak to a DVLA agent on vehicle-related issues. Measures to cope with the additional demand have been put in place and in June the average waiting time was down to 25 seconds.

Customers to DVLA's drivers section have experienced an average waiting time of 10 seconds for the first six months of this year.