Fears have been raised over the future of the DVLA following the announcement that Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg has ordered a major review of quangos to save taxpayers' money.
The minister for Brexit opportunities and government efficiency wrote to fellow ministers calling for a string of public bodies and government agencies, also know as quangos or quasi-autonomous non-Governmental organizations, to be shut down or merged. It is believed that ministers are looking at savings of between 10 and 20 per cent in government spending, according to the Telegraph.
The DVLA is one of the largest employers in Wales, with more than 5,000 staff at its offices in Clase, Swansea, but the newspaper reported a Whitehall source saying there had been a 'total failure' by the DVLA 'to provide the public service it is meant to'.
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In a letter to secretaries of state, Jacob Rees-Mogg wrote: “Necessary public bodies are an important delivery mechanism for the Government. The cost and number of these bodies continues to increase. Public bodies should only exist when there is a pressing need, must be accountable to Parliament and be efficient and effective. Please review your public bodies for any that you consider could be provided by organisations other than the state and therefore closed.
“There are other bodies that have duplication in the types of service they provide, often causing confusion to the public. These organisations could well be merged to create a more coherent service for the public, share best practice and reduce cost.”
Ministers were asked to provide a list of public bodies sponsored by their departments and 'proposals to close and merge bodies from that list', by June 24.
Last week Mr Rees-Mogg told Bristol Live : “I am still constantly writing to DVLA on behalf of my constituents to get them driving licences and we know that the DVLA was simply not working properly with people working from home. That's very unfair on my constituents.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous that to get a driving licence you need to contact an MP. But I am getting letter after letter from people saying they would like a driving licence, and once again nothing has happened". Mr Rees-Mogg has been on a mission of late to get more civil servants working from the office, even leaving notes on people's desks saying he called to see them but they were not there.
According to an article published on the Huffington Post website that claimed that up to 75 per cent of Whitehall staff were still reportedly working from home, Mr Rees-Mogg "accompanied his letter with a league table showing how many staff in each government department were attending the office on an average day".
General secretary of the FDA union representing senior civil servants, Dave Penman, called Mr Rees-Mogg's circular "vindictive", adding that ministers were out of step with current practice in the private sector.
Last year workers at the DVLA staged a series of strikes over what they considered 'unsafe' working conditions at the DVLA. At the time a large number of staff were said to be working from home, but there were concerns too many were being told they had to come into work and that practices in the offices were allegedly putting them at risk of catching Covid.
In November, 2021, it was confirmed there had been 1,000 cases of Covid at the DVLA, but the agency said most of those were from transmission from outside its offices, identified through tracking community transmission rates, and that it was erroneous to link the high number to unsafe conditions. It said the safety of its staff was paramount.
Responding to the comments from Mr Rees-Mogg, Carolyn Harris, MP for Swansea East, said: "The DVLA is a huge employer in Swansea and neighbouring areas. Loose talk criticising performance of dedicated staff is dangerous and demoralising. Thankfully, Jacob Rees-Mogg is not responsible for making such a decision but I will be writing to the minister with responsibility for the department of transport and asking for assurances that no such plans are in the pipeline."
A government spokesman said: "Taxpayers’ money must be spent efficiently, and we should always look at whether public organisations are delivering for the British people".
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