This has just been posted on my moped clubs website.
Not good news at all, having said that my nearest ones are at Northampton- 40 miles, or vorehamwood about 30 miles, assumimg that either of them are still open.
Brian
8227
On 13 December staff of DVLA Local Offices (LO) throughout the UK were told that all LOs would close during 2013. This action will remove all face to face contact between the public and DVLA staff.
This will cause problems for historic vehicle owners. In its latest newsletter, the FBHVC ( http://fbhvc.co.uk )has a list of some of the services that can currently only be done at DVLA local offices:
Taxing an historic vehicle for the first time;
Authentication of copy documentation for transmission to Swansea in lieu of valuable originals;
Same day receipt of replacement tax discs for lost or stolen discs;
Same day receipt of tax discs for taxing at short notice (including paper MoT and insurance cover notes);
Taxing vehicles where there is also a change of taxation class e.g. unlicensed to historic, PSV to PLG;
Taxing a vehicle exempt from MoT (We wonder how long Post Offices will be able do this?);
Reinstatement of an original registration number where this had been replaced at some time in the past but has remained dormant;
Inspection of vehicles which require an age related number or a chassis number;
Inspection of imported vehicles requiring UK registration.
The FBHVC also comments:
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Briefly, the DVLA stance is that the progress of computerisation needs to continue. To quote: "This means driving forward existing services such as increasing take up of driver services on-line. It also means making other transactions available electronically where this is cost effective and maximising uptake by making them as user friendly as possible".
The consultation majors on increasing use of their existing vehicle licence transactions on-line (and telephone) services, but their (loaded) figures actually show that more than 50% of private users do not avail themselves of these facilities. Their so-called customer survey was based on on-line users only, ignoring the majority who do not, or cannot, use this facility for their transaction. There are vague promises to engage with 'intermediaries' but whether this is to provide computer access only, or a genuine replacement for end users with queries is also unclear. For individuals who are not computer literate are unlikely to use a DVLA provided facility.
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It's not only historic vehicle owners who'll suffer. It cause problems throughout the motor trade too. There's widespread opposition to the proposal from both the motor trade and public services unions (the closures will cause the loss of 1,200 jobs.)
There's an on-line petition at
http://www.savethedvla.co.uk/ . You can also respond to the consultation. Hard copies of the consultation are available by writing to:
Corporate Affairs Directorate,
D16,
DVLA,
Swansea,
SA6 7JL.
(The consultation did not provide a contact name or phone number.) To respond on-line go to
http://www.dft.gov.uk/dvla/ then click on 'consultation'. The consultation closes on 6 March 2012.
