Cost to DVSA of a Book of CBT Certificates

The request was successful.

Dear Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency,

A motorcycle ATB has to pay the DVSA £200 for a book of DL196 (CBT) certificates. What does it cost the DVSA to have one book of DL196's produced?

Yours faithfully,

Robert Southgate

Dear Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency,

I have not had a response to my FOI request, which is unacceptable. Please respond within the next seven days as to why you have failed to comply with your legal obligations. If you fail to respond I will take the matter up with the Information Commissioner.

Yours faithfully,

Robert Southgate

foi@dsa.gsi.gov.uk, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency

2 Attachments

Link: [1]File-List
Link: [2]Edit-Time-Data

     

     

  Information Access Team             T    0115 9366034

The Axis Building F    0115 9366580

112 Upper Parliament Street   www.gov.uk/dvsa

NOTTINGHAM

NG1 6LP

 

 

Mr Robert Southgate

by email: [FOI #372014 email]

 

our ref: IA/00040/17

 

16 January 2017

                                                                       

 

Dear Mr Southgate

 

Information requested under the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA)

 

Further to your FoI request received via a completed Web Form, I can
confirm that we have handled your request for information about the cost
of DL196 CBT certificates within the terms of the FoIA.

 

I would like to apologise for the delay in responding, and acknowledge the
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) input in your request. I can now
respond as follows: -

 

Question:

 

A motorcycle ATB has to pay the DVSA £200 for a book of DL196 (CBT)
certificates. What does it cost the DVSA to have one book of DL196's
produced?

 

Response:

 

I can confirm that I am unable to provide this information to you as this
could prejudice the commercial interests of both our current Supplier, who
should be able to feel that their quotes and tendering responses should be
held securely and responsibly by us, and DVSA, as this could undermine our
integrity with our current Supplier, and possibly inhibit other Suppliers from
being involved with us in future tenders. This is covered by Exemption 43,
Commercial interests under the FoIA as detailed [3]here. In line with this
exemption, I attach a public interest test under Annex A.

Although we can’t provide you with the response you require, it may help if I
explain how the cost you have detailed of £200 per book of DL196 Compulsory
Basic Training (CBT) certificates paid by motorcycle Approved Training Bodies,
is utilised by us.

The income generated from the sales of the DL196 books is used to fund the
motorcycle training schemes as we do not charge any other fees for those
instructors providing approved motorcycle training courses.  

 

 

 

This income is used to fund the following activities required to
administer the CBT training scheme.

 

·         Authorised Training Body (ATB) registrations

·         Site inspections

·         Qualification assessments at our Cardington training centre.

·         Instructor certificates

·         Standards checks

·         Investigation and enforcement

 

I trust that this has provided some clarification.

 

If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your request, you can ask
for an internal review by contacting Vasim Choudhary at
[4][email address], or at the above address.

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Suzanne Durrance

Information Access Officer

 

 

 

 
Find out more about government services at [5]www.gov.uk/dvsa

 

References

Visible links
1. file:///tmp/cid:filelist.xml@01D26FED.C3363E50
2. file:///tmp/cid:editdata.mso
3. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000...
4. mailto:[email address]
5. http://www.gov.uk/dvsa

Dear Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency's handling of my FOI request 'Cost to DVSA of a Book of CBT Certificates'.

I do not accept that the information is commercially sensitive and I firmly believe that the DVSA should be transparent about the costs that ATB's have to incur for the purchase of a book of CBT certificates to allow them to see what it is that they are paying for.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/c...

Yours faithfully,

Robert Southgate

foi@dsa.gsi.gov.uk, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency

1 Attachment

     

     

  Information Access Team             T    0115 9366023

The Axis Building F   0115 9366580

112 Upper Parliament Street   www.gov.uk/dvsa

NOTTINGHAM

NG1 6LP

 

 

 

Robert Southgate

by email: [FOI #372014 email]

 

o/r: IA/00091/17

 

Date: 16 January 2017

 

Dear Mr Southgate,

 

Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) – Internal Review

 

Thank you for your request for an Internal Review.  Your request was
received on

16 January 2017.

 

We hope to provide you with a full response by 13 February 2017.

 

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

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Vasim Choudhary

Public Liaison Manager

 

 

 

 

Williams, Stephen, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency

1 Attachment

     

     

  Information Access Team             T    0115 9366023

The Axis Building F   0115 9366580

112 Upper Parliament Street   www.gov.uk/dvsa

NOTTINGHAM

NG1 6LP

 

 

 

Mr Robert Southgate

by email: [FOI #372014 email]

 

o/r: IA/00091/17

 

Date: 9 February 2017

 

Dear Mr Southgate,

 

Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) – Internal Review

 

Further to the email to you of 16^th January 2017,  I am writing to advise
you that we are extending the deadline for responding to your internal
review by a further twenty working days to 13^th March 2017.  This is to
enable us to undertake further consultations.  We will however endeavour
to respond to your review as promptly as possible.

 

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.  If you have any
queries about this letter, please contact the service, quoting the
reference number above.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Information Access

 

 

foi@dsa.gsi.gov.uk, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency

1 Attachment

     

     

Information Access Team             T    0115 9366028

The Axis Building  

112 Upper Parliament Street   www.gov.uk/dvsa

NOTTINGHAM

NG1 6LP

 

 

 

Mr Robert Southgate

by email: [FOI #372014 email]

 

our ref: IA/00091/17

 

2 March 2017

 

 

Dear Mr Southgate

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST: INTERNAL REVIEW

 

I am writing to respond to the request for internal review that you
submitted on 16 January 2017.  We wrote to you on 9 February to advise
that we were extending the period for responding to the internal review so
that we could undertake further consultations. 

 

An internal review is when a response to a request for information is
re-assessed because the requestor is not content with the original
response.  I have now reviewed your case.  I had no role in replying to
your original request.

 

The internal review relates to request IA/00040/17, which was in for the
following terms:

 

“A motorcycle ATB has to pay the DVSA £200 for a book of DL196 (CBT)
certificates. What does it cost the DVSA to have one book of DL196's
produced?”

 

We received this request on 17 November 2016 and it was therefore due for
a response by no later than 15 December 2016.  The response was sent to
you by email on 16^th January 2017, with an apology in recognition that
this was outside the twenty working day response period. 

 

The decision letter advised that the information requested was exempt from
disclosure in accordance with the exemption at Section 43 of the Freedom
of Information Act.  It advised that the exemption was engaged because it
would prejudice the commercial interests of both DVSA and DVSA’s
supplier.  Section 43 is a qualified exemption that is subject to a public
interest test.  The public interest test was set out in the Annex to the
decision letter. 

 

The decision letter also explained that the income generated by the sale
of the DL 196 books is used to fund the approved motorcycle training
schemes, as DVSA does not charge any other fees for this training. 

 

It may be helpful to explain how DVSA manages its print requirements.  
There is an overall Crown Commercial Service framework contract of
approved print management contractors.   At the time you made your request
the Department for Transport, of which DVSA is part, had their own
framework agreement within this overall framework with Williams Lea. 
Under this contract a service, such as CBT, would approach Williams Lea
for an individual price for a piece of work such as a set of DL 196
booklets.  However, the quotation provided does not represent a total cost
as these include a management fee element.  Part of the overall agreement
is a requirement on the contractor to bring the total contract price in
below a certain cost.   Any resulting adjustments are made through the
management fee, which is charged at the end of the financial year at
different rates across the Department to reflect differential volumes.

 

I can also advise that at the time of your request, the Department for
Transport was negotiating a new print framework agreement and this has now
been awarded to a different contractor.  In view of this, I have taken the
opportunity to consult Williams Lea about whether disclosure of the price
information you requested would prejudice their commercial interests. 
Williams Lea have advised that they are content for the total price to be
disclosed.  I take the view that the recent changes to the print contract
mean that it is now less likely that disclosure will prejudice DVSAs
commercial interests.

 

I can therefore advise you that the cost for production of 8000 DL196
books in July 2016 was £22,387.20.

 

I hope you will be satisfied with this response but, 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

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

 

Information Access