Dear Mr McCarthy

Thank you for your e-mail of 16 February 2009 requesting information under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act. I can confirm that DVLA holds the information you have requested and that information is communicated to you below.

I have responded to your questions in the order you have raised them.

From 1 April 2008, the Agency began using an advanced reporting system to record customer complaints. I can confirm that we have received 30 complaints specifically about the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system since 1 April 2008 to date.

Following a search of our paper and electronic records, I have established that historical information on the numbers of complaints received relating specifically to the IVR system, since it was introduced, is not held by this Agency. However, the table below shows the number of complaints received about the telephone service in general from financial periods 1995 to 2008; figures prior to 1995 are not available.

As an Agency, we are strongly committed to providing our customers with the best service possible and always listen to what they say. To this end, we regularly review and update the IVR system in response to customer feedback and surveys. While I cannot comment on specific cases, as a result of customer feedback, a new IVR system for vehicle related enquiries was introduced on 1 December 2008. Early indicators show that the results of this work have been very successful with the IVR answering 30% more calls than before. This means that we can devote more resource to those enquiries that require personal intervention and access to our databases.

We also built a “by-pass” on an earlier version of the IVR system to move callers straight to an advisor and miss the IVR altogether when there is availability to take a call. The new IVR system has retained this function.

The level of complaints received about the IVR system and telephone service in general is very low when compared to the number of calls we receive annually, which is estimated to be 24 million this year. However, I trust that I have shown that we are not complacent about the position and are constantly trying to improve.

I can confirm that, for the financial year 2007-2008, DVLA received £3,973,437.65

from its service provider from the use of 0870 numbers. However, DVLA does not profit from the use of 0870 numbers as this income contributes to the full costs of the services that the DVLA provides.

DVLA has a call plan in place to control the number of concurrent calls reaching our service thus ensuring customer service standards can be agreed and met with a degree of confidence. The call plan offers the flexibility to increase or decrease the number of available lines very quickly. Operating alternative geographic telephone numbers in parallel with the 0870 numbers would compromise the call handling structure. This would also result in some customers getting an engaged tone as it would not be possible to direct the calls to the delivery numbers in the plan when there are lines available. Customer using the geographic number would, therefore, not receive the equivalent level of service to those customers using the published 0870 numbers.

While DVLA does not provide geographic numbers for the enquiries service, we do publicise a geographic switchboard number. However, this is intended primarily for DVLA administrative purposes but will also allow for calls to be transferred to other areas of the Agency. We also provide services for the aurally impaired but nether this service or the switchboard are designed to cope with high volumes of telephone calls.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use it for your own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Any other re-use, for example commercial publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder.

Most documents supplied by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency will have been produced by government officials and will be Crown Copyright. You can find details on the arrangements for re-using Crown copyright on the Office of Public Sector Information website at:

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/click-use/index.htm.

If you are unhappy with the way the DVLA has handled your request, you may write to me to ask for an internal review.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me quoting the reference above in any future communications.

Yours sincerely

Sent unsigned via e-mail

Carole Evans

Customer Services Manager

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