Dear Sir or Madam,

After a recent item of mail being lost internally after being
signed for and many SORN LLP's taking weeks to arrive I have the
following questions.

1. Does DVLA contract out to a mail room service or do you process
your own mail?

2. How long after a SORN LLP letter is printed does it take to
enter the Royal Mail system? In this answer I would like a minimum
time, a maximum time, an average time and copies of reports that
show these times.

3. Mail is being lost internally between DVLA post rooms and DVLA
departments, I know this as it has just happened to me(item signed
for by the post room not received at the dept). How can DVLA
guarantee that SORN LLP's aren't being lost between (or by) the
department that prints them and the post rooms that sort them prior
to the Royal mail picking them up?

4. In light of DVLA's admittance that mail is going missing
internally without being recorded unless people follow the long
winded unpublished complaint system for lost mail how can you prove
items are being sent and/or sent when you say they are?

Thank you in advance.

Yours faithfully,

James Collins

Our Ref FOIR 1498/09

Date: 21/05/09

Dear Mr Collins

Freedom of Information

I am writing in response to your request made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) which was received on 8th May 09. You asked a number of questions and I will answer them in the order asked.

1. DVLA processes all its own mail.

2. The minimum time for a SORN LLP letter to be despatched is the same day it is printed. The maximum time for a SORN LLP letter to be despatched can be up to two days after the printed date. No reports are held.

3. All SORN LLP letters are despatched by DVLA+IBk-s +IBg-Output Services Group+IBk. The letters are generated and produced on high-speed printers and once produced are accompanied by a control document. During the print, mail and despatch process operators complete the control documentation to ensure accurate reconciliation.

4. As part of the control system in place all despatch technicians are required to sign and date control documentation before releasing output to Royal Mail. During each Royal Mail collection the postman double checks and signs for all envelopes and packages collected.

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 decisions made by this Agency in relation to your request, you may ask for an internal review. If you wish to complain, you reply to this email address.

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Please remember to quote the reference above in any future communications.

show quoted sections

Dear Sir or Madam,

After a recent item of mail being lost internally after being
signed for and many SORN LLP's taking weeks to arrive I have the
following questions.

1. Does DVLA contract out to a mail room service or do you process
your own mail?

2. How long after a SORN LLP letter is printed does it take to
enter the Royal Mail system? In this answer I would like a minimum
time, a maximum time, an average time and copies of reports that
show these times.

3. Mail is being lost internally between DVLA post rooms and DVLA
departments, I know this as it has just happened to me(item signed
for by the post room not received at the dept). How can DVLA
guarantee that SORN LLP's aren't being lost between (or by) the
department that prints them and the post rooms that sort them prior
to the Royal mail picking them up?

4. In light of DVLA's admittance that mail is going missing
internally without being recorded unless people follow the long
winded unpublished complaint system for lost mail how can you prove
items are being sent and/or sent when you say they are?

Thank you in advance.

Yours faithfully,

James Collins

show quoted sections

Dear DVLA

Thank you for your reply to my request but I'm afraid I need some
clarification of some points raised.

In response to Q.2 you state no reports are held. If no reports
check sheets reconciliation's etc are held how have you come about
the answer you have provided?

In response to Q.3 you state 'The letters are generated and
produced on high-speed printers and once produced are accompanied
by a control document. During the print, mail and despatch process
operators complete the control documentation to ensure accurate
reconciliation' This fails to take into consideration pre sorting.
As far as I am aware DVLA send all SORN LLP's by the mailsort 2
service, in fact I have conformation from DVLA that you do so where
does the sorting phase take place and how do you ensure it takes
place accurately and what happens if less than 4000 letters are
prepared using mailsort 2 as according to the royal mail they don't
accept a lower amount in one run?

In the response to Q.4 you suggest the postman picking up the mail
bags signs for each and every letter NOT for individual sealed mail
bags. Can you please confirm what is actually signed for? As an
example with Mailsort 2 you need to send a minimum 4000 pieces of
mail, are you suggesting that the postman individually checks each
item?

Overall you have given the impression that I can trace not only
when an individual item is printed but due to your 'control'
documents I can trace when an individual item goes through each
department and when it is picked up by the Royal mail, would this
be correct?

Thank you for your time, I look forward to your clarification.

Yours sincerely,

James Collins

Dear Mr Collins,

In response to your request for clarification please see the below
answers:

Q2. We have based this response on the batch control documents which
are completed by the operators. Whilst there are no reports are held,
the control documents are archived for a limited period.

Q3. The Sorn LLP letters are automatically placed in order by the
DVLA's servers according to their destination. The pre sorting of the
Sorn LLP letters takes place at the end of the mailing process. Once the
documents have been enveloped the letters are transported out the back
of the mailing machine where the operator places the mail into the
appropriate box to despatch to Royal Mail via the Mailsort 2 120CBC
scheme. If the DVLA process less than 4000 documents in one consignment,
all documents are processed standard tariff.

Q4. On each occasion that Royal Mail collect from the DVLA the postman
signs a 'Customer Collection Receipt' to confirm what mail they have
taken. Royal Mail do not count or reconcile each and every document
despatched.

Output Services Group are able to trace each mailpiece from when it is
printed through to when it is despatched via the control documentation.
The control documents are then held for a rolling three month period.

Regards.

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2009 12:26 >>>
Dear DVLA

Thank you for your reply to my request but I'm afraid I need some
clarification of some points raised.

In response to Q.2 you state no reports are held. If no reports
check sheets reconciliation's etc are held how have you come
about
the answer you have provided?

In response to Q.3 you state 'The letters are generated and
produced on high-speed printers and once produced are accompanied
by a control document. During the print, mail and despatch
process
operators complete the control documentation to ensure accurate
reconciliation' This fails to take into consideration pre
sorting.
As far as I am aware DVLA send all SORN LLP's by the mailsort 2
service, in fact I have conformation from DVLA that you do so
where
does the sorting phase take place and how do you ensure it takes
place accurately and what happens if less than 4000 letters are
prepared using mailsort 2 as according to the royal mail they
don't
accept a lower amount in one run?

In the response to Q.4 you suggest the postman picking up the
mail
bags signs for each and every letter NOT for individual sealed
mail
bags. Can you please confirm what is actually signed for? As an
example with Mailsort 2 you need to send a minimum 4000 pieces of
mail, are you suggesting that the postman individually checks
each
item?

Overall you have given the impression that I can trace not only
when an individual item is printed but due to your 'control'
documents I can trace when an individual item goes through each
department and when it is picked up by the Royal mail, would this
be correct?

Thank you for your time, I look forward to your clarification.

Yours sincerely,

James Collins

show quoted sections

Dear DVLA

That explains things perfectly.

Yours sincerely,

James Collins