HC Deb 29 April 2004 vol 420 cc55-8WS
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mr. David Jamieson)

I am pleased to announce the Secretary of State's targets for 2004–05 in respect of the Driver, Vehicle And Operator Group.

The Secretary of State for Transport has set a range of high-level targets for the 2004–05 year on behalf of the Agencies within the Driver, Vehicle and Operator Group; the Driving Standards Agency, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, the Vehicle Certification Agency and the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency. They are included in the Agencies' Business Plans. The plans also include a range of management targets, performance indicators and key tasks which are appropriate to the Agencies' businesses and which reflect the wider DVO change agenda. Copies of the Business Plans will be placed in the Library shortly.

The key targets for the Driving Standards Agency are:

DVO Corporate Objective Secretary of State Target
Deliver core services effectively Deliver 6 week national average car practical test waiting time from January 2005.
Maintain or improve levels of candidate satisfaction against the baseline of 90 per cent.
E-enable core customer-facing services Introduce Advanced Speech Recognition for customers booking by telephone in August 2004.
Deliver a One Stop Service Use Automatic Driving Licence Issue system to send pass results to DVLA to enable drivers to receive automatically updated licences from June 2004.
Help improve road safety Deliver a national programme of 6,000 Arrive Alive presentations to 16-19 year olds.
Deliver an interactive DVD to support learners to learn to drive safely by the end of March 2005.
Improve the quality of trainers by effectively implementing the Approved Driving Instructors assessment programme.
Deliver more efficient services Deliver Return on Capital Employed target of 3.5 per cent. over a five year period after offsetting the surplus in respect of 2003–04 and earlier years.

The key targets for the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency are:

DVO Corporate Objective Secretary of State Target
Deliver core services effectively Maintain or improve levels of customer satisfaction to 94 per cent. (2003 baseline 92 per cent.)
Issue 98 per cent. of first driving licences within 8 working days
Make 95 per cent. of vehicle registration (V5) changes within 12 working days.
Maintain records that enable vehicle keepers to be successfully traced—target 75 per cent. of Harmonised Registration Certificates to be issued by March 2005.
E-enable core customer-facing services Completion of Post Office barcoding (BART Phase 3) by August 2004 to enable automatic immediate update of DVLA licensing records.
Commence national roll out of Electronic Vehicle Licensing phase 2 by March 2005.
Deliver a One Stop Service First driver to receive replacement licence after passing their driving test, using the Automatic Driving Licensing Issue system by June 2004.

DVO Corporate Objective Secretary of State Target
Improve data accuracy First full Harmonised Registration Certificate issued on 1 July 2004.
Help reduce driver and vehicle related crime and anti-social behaviour Reduce revenue loss arising from Vehicle Excise Duty evasion from 4.5 per cent. to 4 per cent. by end of March 2005.
Successfully reduce the vehicle "inactive register" arising from Continuous Registration by 10 per cent. by end of March 2005.
Deliver more efficient services Deliver Return on Capital Employed target of 3.5 per cent. Deliver 2.5 per cent. efficiency gain.

The key targets for the Vehicle Certification Agency are:

DVO Corporate Objective Secretary of State Target
Deliver core services effectively Have at least 98 per cent. of approved certificates issued error-free
Help improve road safety Have plans in place and no track to implement new approval procedures for buses by 2007 (working with VOSA).
Deliver more efficient services Achieve at least break even for 2004—
Complete the roll out of the integrated expense management system across the Agency and provide data to support better business development for 2005–06 Business Plan.

The key targets for the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency are:

DVO Corporate Objective Secretary of State Target
Deliver core services effectively Improve licence application turnaround times by determining 85 per cent. of unopposed applications within 10 weeks from date of receipt of the application.
Improve HGV and PSV test availability by offering a test appointment on or within 18 days of the requested date 95 per cent. of the time
Maintain or improve levels of customer satisfaction against 2003 baselines (operaters licensing 78 per cent., testing 73 per cent., fitters and presenters—roadside checks 89 per cent., testing 92 per cent.; and MOT customers 93 per cent.)
E-enable core customer-facing services Have a robust MOT computerisation system being rolled out nationally by March 2005
Deliver a One Stop Service Develop a commercial customer portal delivering access to operator self-service by May 2004 an e-payment facility by 31 March 2005 and development of self service test bookings for implementation by April 2006.

DVO Corporate Objective Secretary of State Target
Help improve road safety Contribute to the improved compliance of the lorry, bus and coach industries (operators and drivers) through effectively targeted compliance inspections, penalties and advice; as measured by Performance Gain points (2003 baseline of 8,295,459).
Deliver more efficient services Contribute to the DVO Group 5 per cent. Value for Money target by delivering against an agreed VOSA Value for Money plan, achieving 2.5 per cent. efficiency and 2.5 per cent. effectiveness measures.
Develop joined-up support services Agree design templates for our estate modernization programme and have completed 30 per cent. of phase one by 31 March 2005.