Policy paper

DVSA strategic plan to 2025

Published 4 April 2023

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

1. Foreword

Welcome to our strategic plan to 2025. Whatever your stake in DVSA, we want to set out for you what we plan to achieve. That’s whether you work for us or in partnership with us, or you are responsible for holding us to account. We want to make clear how our ambitions and the challenges we set ourselves contribute to achieving our vision to 2030: keeping Britain moving, safely and sustainably.

The challenges of the future are many and they are global in scale. But technology and data are providing more ways to collaborate and gather evidence on what is needed and with what priority, and then to tackle those challenges. They offer opportunities to make our services simpler and more inclusive, and to harmonise how industry’s ways of working integrates with ours.

And, importantly, technology and data help us to listen. With it we can better understand the challenges and obstacles to making the safe and sustainable travel or business choices that will protect public health, the environment and our economy. And then we can work together to inform, educate and advise people, simplifying services and promoting just the right behaviour changes, using just the right techniques.

From that platform of enabling people and businesses to do the right thing, it becomes easier and more cost-effective to test, to accredit best practice, and to focus enforcement resources. It all means we can put the right resources in the right place at the right time with the right evidence to do the job. Then we can hone our efficiency and put as little pressure on our fee-payers as possible.

In the early part of this plan there will also be a departmental review of the agency. The transformative plans in this document demonstrate our drive for more efficient services. We will always keep looking for ways to build on this to support the government’s ambitions for Civil Service reform.

Our activities don’t work in isolation, it takes a shared basis in evidence and shared aims to bring them all together and to make them most effective

Importantly, all of this gives our colleagues purpose, professionalism and pride in what we do. Such employee value is well deserved by a team that remains motivated to serve, and to give Britain the transport system and supply chain we need.

In the plans that follow you should see how we are following the evidence to prioritise what will work. We hope you will recognise your own priorities for us there.

Nick Bitel
DVSA Non-Executive Chair

Loveday Ryder
DVSA Chief Executive

2. Helping you through a lifetime of safe and sustainable journeys

We will concentrate on customer needs and reducing test waiting times after the pandemic. We are determined to do much more to inform, educate and advise everyone how to stay safe. And we want to help people manage their costs and their businesses including recruitment and development of drivers to support the national supply chain.

The appearance of self-driving and automated features within the government’s safety ambition for self-driving vehicles adds an extra dimension.

Our work contributes directly to public health, the environment and the economy. Here is a summary of the priorities we are already working on.

2.1 Setting standards, assessing and testing

In 2022 to 2024

We will:

• shorten waiting times for car tests
• streamline the theory test customer experience inclusively
• with government and industry partners, increase capacity of HGV driver Skills Bootcamps and driving tests
• assign new account managers for quick, easy HGV/PSV test booking
• support training organisations to do effective manoeuvres tests, and reintroduce training for new delegated vocational examiners for resilience and flexibility
• give industry priority access to theory tests to support supply chains
• explore ways to improve how we check people’s eyesight before driving tests
• consider digitising pass certificates to improve service and efficiency
• reduce the backlog in testing to pre-pandemic levels and make test appointments available in a way that suits our customers
• launch the ‘Ready to Pass?’ campaign of new, researched help for people preparing for driving tests and choosing an instructor
• adapt testing around the England-Wales border for when the 20mph default speed limit takes effect in Wales in September 2023

By 2025

We will:

• further stabilise the theory test digital platform, for example, by reducing the disruption to customers by bots
• develop a new digital driver services platform that is easy to use and supports the flexibility customers need on how and when to take a driving test
• reduce reliance on fixed estate, sharing under-used properties, improving sustainability and flexibility for customers
• integrate vocational services with industry, so they are easier to use and flexible to fit customers’ business models
• explore whether driving test routes could be designed locally to respond to local changes and conditions in real time
• based on research evidence, improve the effectiveness of tests and their contribution to road safety
• adapt driver and rider testing to reflect changes in modern vehicle types, including more automated and self-driving vehicles
• explore the potential for people to take theory tests in their own home

2.2 Licensing, accrediting, regulating and enforcing

In 2022 to 2024

We will:

• introduce measures to prevent learner drivers from being exploited and paying too much for driving tests
• improve motorcyclist and instructor training, compulsory basic training and the trainer booking service, using insight from enforcement
• improve training, encourage and support the continual professional development of ADIs, targeting strengths and weaknesses using performance data and direct engagement about needs
• work with trainers on modern and flexible vocational and motorcycle training
• recognise road safety education products that use proven behaviour change techniques and endorse those whose sound evaluation processes prove they lead to safer, greener, cleaner road transport.
• serve driver educators with approved, licensed copyright theory test revision content and personal support, so that unofficial education resources meet a rising standard
• work with DfT and other partners to gather evidence to inform decisions on powered micro vehicles

By 2025

We will:

• propose a package of measures to improve the way motorcycle trainers provide for motorcycling on modern and future roads
• adapt, as needed, when the number e-scooters and other powered 2-wheeled vehicles increases

2.3 Informing, educating and advising

In 2022 to 2024

We will:

• encourage learners to be better prepared for car driving tests, including with the Ready to Pass? campaign
• reduce wasted car driving test appointments with proactive communications and improved business processes
• use underpinning evidence and data more effectively, for example to improve support for driving instructors’ preparation of learners, for test and a lifetime of safe driving
• help learners make better choices about driving instructors with data
• be uncompromisingly inclusive and customer-led
• enhance our range of learning materials and help experienced drivers adapt to recent changes in the Highway Code, with content on the strategic network, hierarchy of road users, driver assistance and self-driving features
• give vocational driver trainees the information they need to make better choices about their training
• develop and apply the highest professional standards of communications and campaigning, both directly and in partnership, to bring about positive behavioural change
• partner with appropriate organisations to contribute DVSA’s expertise and coordinate driver and rider education with Bikeability and pre-driver education in schools and colleges
• work with representatives of vulnerable road users to promote the education and advice for drivers and riders on sharing the road safely, for example through blog and social media posts, and amplifying each other’s messages
• offer copyright licensees of our commercial theory test content personalised reviews and support to run effective and profitable driver education businesses and customer service
• launch The Highway Code in Welsh, Rheolau’r Ffordd Fawr, on GOV.UK to make it truly ‘digital first’

By 2025

We will:

• replace the commercial publishing concession to develop and publish DVSA’s official learning resources
• broaden the scope of official learning products to help experienced drivers and employers of drivers to keep up-to-date and improve safety and driving
• innovate and improve the data cycle from commercial publishing to improve customer experience and open opportunities for learners and trainees
• develop more inclusive products and features both on GOV.UK, through services, and under the new commercial publishing concession
• update The Highway Code and official learning materials as vehicles, technologies and priorities change
• make the maximum use of the expertise and resources of responsible partners for mutual benefit
• establish and implement Government Communication Service and road safety industry standards of accessible, inclusive and effective behaviour change education and communications, including research and insight, data and evaluation
• collaborate and coordinate with pre-driver educators at school and college level, with partners like the THINK! Campaign, RAC Foundation, Police, Fire and Rescue, FirstCar and public health authorities

3. Helping you keep your vehicle safe to drive

We work with industry partners to keep all vehicles as safe and sustainable as possible. We will keep improving our services in this area – heavy vehicle testing, MOT and vehicle approvals. In particular, we will be guided by the customer needs revealed by our 2022 review. They include the way we deliver approvals, the Heavy Vehicle Testing Review, and outcomes from DfT’s call for evidence on MOT testing.

It is important that we adapt to advances in the connectivity and automation of vehicles, and more sustainable propulsion technology. This technological revolution is worth tens of billions to the economy and will create tens of thousands of jobs. So we must develop our understanding, sharing and educating as we do so. Here is a summary of the priorities we are already working on.

3.1 Setting standards, assessing and testing

In 2022 to 2024

We will:

• encourage investment at MOT garages in connected test equipment to make sure tests meet standards
• modernise vehicle approvals, including new digital services for application, booking and payments
• launch a flexible digital platform to improve vehicle testing services, with cleaner, real-time test data
• improve our new digital services, including for ATF management, in line with user feedback
• use service health indicators for heavy vehicle testing to work with those representing heavy vehicle operators and ATFs to improve our service
• along with Authorised Testing Facilities (ATFs), make sure we provide the best possible service to vehicle users
• work with ATFs to provide the best availability and choice of testing service for vehicle users, with the right numbers of staff, and right arrangements with ATFs, including the way we schedule
• simplify digital services for ATFs and make financial management, and the scheduling and management of tester requests, easier
• improve the vehicle approval service to better meet user needs, including doing more approvals at customers’ premises
• introduce new test methods for vehicle approvals, with the facility to provide evidence that requirements are met for complex items through recognised specialists
• develop testing to make sure modern emissions systems are tested robustly
• support the industry to improve the MOT service and the quality of testing
• extend market surveillance to emerging areas of industry, like e-scooters and similar vehicles
• use virtual reality technology to train and develop colleagues on a range of vehicles more cost-effectively

By 2025

We will:

• simplify services, particularly vehicle approvals
• adapt our services to respond to any implications of driver assistance and self-driving features in line with government’s new safety ambition, and electric and hydrogen propulsion
• build on our new digital service for ATFs and vehicle users to improve services, like data availability and transparency of test availability
• continue to improve how we use technology and automation in the test, making the MOT slicker, providing better information for customers and minimising opportunities for fraud
• respond to the outcomes of the DfT’s call for evidence on MOT testing, including implementing any changes on first MOT year, and modernised test content
• simplify fee structures for vehicle approvals

3.2 Licensing, accrediting, regulating and enforcing

In 2022 to 2024

We will:

• partner with more ATFs to increase competition and choice for customers, prioritising areas of the country with fewer ATFs, and increasing choice for hazardous goods carriers
• further refine the machine learning and data analysis we use to target MOT garages who choose not to do the right things and, where appropriate, prosecute them
• recognise the ATFs and MOT garages that follow best practice

By 2025

We will:

• review the evidence and opportunities with industry and DfT of changing the testing model for Earned Recognition vehicle operators, as we committed to under the Heavy Vehicle Testing Review, and any future legislative requirements
• respond to the outcomes of DfT’s call for evidence on MOT testing, including any improvements to how MOT garages are regulated and the data we publish to help encourage compliant behaviour

3.3 Informing, educating and advising

In 2022 to 2024

We will:

• make our MOT reminder service even easier to use, always uncompromisingly inclusive and customer-led
• publish more data digitally under the Commercial Vehicle Services programme, including test results
• offer better, more accessible information to enable vehicle operators to stay compliant
• develop and apply the highest professional standards of communications and campaigning, both directly and in partnership, to bring about positive behaviour change
• support vehicle manufacturers to manage recall campaigns using our services (such as MOT)

By 2025

We will:

• communicate how our services are adapting to the needs of self-driving vehicles, as well as more electric and potentially hydrogen propulsion vehicles, and new vehicle categories like e-scooters
• replace the commercial publishing concession to develop and publish DVSA’s official learning resources with a broader scope to support industry

4. Protecting you from unsafe drivers and vehicles

We aim to make every journey safer, greener and cleaner and put the customer at the heart of what we do. But our plan is also designed to achieve positive value for businesses.

We aim to:

• enable customers with clear, accessible advice
• prevent non-compliance with help to avoid repeated prohibitions
• respond strongly, based on ever improving intelligence and evidence

This will reduce the burden enforcement places on us and on industry. Then we can concentrate our resources in the right place and at the right time to remove the serious and serial offenders from the market. Here is a summary of the priorities we are already working on.

4.1 Setting standards, assessing and testing

In 2022 to 2024

We will:

• support customers with data from vehicle manufacturers on their vehicles, subject to recalls and whether faults have been put right
• implement changes to commercial road transport rules that apply to vehicle operators, drivers and vehicles working internationally, as a result of Trade and Cooperation Agreements
• support assessors authorised to conduct the off-road manoeuvres of the vocational test with audits, taking action if necessary
• play our part in implementing recommendations from the Road Policing Review, including being open with our data
• deter Bus Service Operator Grant (BSOG) fraud and take action where we discover it, using data from DfT’s BSOG application system to assess compliance more proactively
• use our Enforcement Casework Transformation system (ECT) to give us faster, easier and more reliable casework, and make auditing easier

By 2025

We will:

• subject to trials, introduce mobile inspection equipment for remote compliance checks
• adapt to the changes resulting from increasing vehicle automation, including self-driving vehicles in line with government’s new safety ambition, and electric and potentially hydrogen propulsion systems
• explore how under-vehicle inspection equipment could use artificial intelligence to make inspections faster and more efficient
• explore ways to offer a more flexible service to be able to intervene and enforce remotely
• use ECT to allow Earned Recognition customers to set up and manage their own accounts

4.2 Licensing, accrediting, regulating and enforcing

In 2022 to 2024

We will:

• recognise businesses for complying, freeing their resources to grow, and ours to target the seriously and serially non-compliant
• continually improve our systems for using intelligence and analysing data to better target non-compliant people and businesses
• share data to support professional development of ADIs
• use emerging vehicle technologies to identify serious and serial non-compliance
• use advanced technology equipment and data processes for surveillance under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act
• support Traffic Commissioners in their strategic objectives, improving quicker operator licence applications as demand accelerates, and better training to improve the support from case work
• monitor the Bus Open Data Service (BODS) for operators who are unregistered, do not provide the right data or perform badly
• add industry partners’ data to BODS, and include BODS in our registration process
• explore incorporating police encounter data into our analysis.
• support compliant operators by focusing enforcement on serious and serial rule-breakers
• reduce the burden of enforcement on compliant vehicle operators using new technologies

By 2025

We will:

• provide a more flexible service to be able to intervene and enforce remotely and reduce disruption to businesses
• use the national automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) service and roadside monitoring equipment, including remote tachograph sensors, to target offenders without stopping vehicles and to reduce reliance on fixed estate
• work with DfT to explore potential for legislation on new deterrent sanctions, including civil penalties, on non-compliant businesses
• work with DfT to explore potential for legislation to implement civil penalties that evidence shows are heavy enough to remove the potential gains of unfair competition
• use a richer range of data shared from government agencies and industry to inform and target enforcement

4.3 Informing, educating and advising

In 2022 to 2024

We will:

• enable customers to get it right first time and reduce the mutual burden of enforcement, with inclusive, customer-led and correct information
• explore what customers need to comply, access information more easily, and change behaviours for the better
• make the maximum use of the expertise and resources of responsible partners for mutual benefit
• develop and apply the highest professional standards of communications and campaigning, both directly and in partnership, to bring about positive behaviour change

By 2025

We will:

• replace the commercial publishing concession to develop and publish DVSA’s official learning resources, broadening the scope of products to support industry and employees to comply with standards and efficiently
• establish and implement Government Communication Service and road safety industry standards of accessible, inclusive and effective education, campaigning and communications, including research and insight, data and evaluation, to promote positive behaviour change

5. Our people, customers and partners

Our Vision to 2030 sets out the principles that govern how we will work with our colleagues, our customers and our partners. We listen to everyone and consider their perspectives and their expertise and experience.

We are proud to be an inclusive employer that values the differences each of us brings to our work. We put our customers at the centre of everything we do, and we work with our partners to bring the best expertise to bear on every task and challenge.

5.1 Our people

Our colleagues are crucial to our success. They are at the heart of what we do. We know that purpose, professionalism and pride in what we do matters. We are committed to being an inclusive and supportive place to work, where people feel comfortable to be themselves and can be at their best.

Our workforce planning will help us to represent the communities we serve, and our talent development will give us the skills to succeed. We will treat our colleagues to the same high standard as we do our customers and partners. That is because we recognise the value of everyone we work with and the contribution they all make.

In our Vision to 2030 we set out the principles we designed to meet the aspirations our colleagues shared with us during 2022.

We aim to be:

• respectful - we are helpful, collaborative, considerate and respectful in our interactions
• valued - we are engaged, motivated and feel valued for what we do
• together - we are united and we are supportive, friendly, happy and positive
• enabled - we all lead and communicate with openness, honesty, and transparency
• ready for the future - we are a forward-thinking, professional and respected organisation

These are our 5 aspirations.

Culture

In 2022 to 2024

We will:

• create great places and ways of working so we can all be our best in the work we do
• increase engagement with colleagues and work together to improve what we do and the decisions we make
• review the way we manage change, so colleagues feel supported through change and embrace new approaches

By 2025

We will:

• make sure we all live our 5 aspirations, making DVSA a great place to work and an organisation that has the customer at the heart of what we do
• work with the Government Property Agency to move to a range of efficient, hybrid workspaces, giving us a positive, collaborative experience

Diversity and inclusion

In 2022 to 2024

We will:

• build better links with the communities we serve
• offer more opportunities for diverse young talent
• develop colleagues from underrepresented groups to help them become leaders
• work with Staff Network Groups to make sure we support colleagues well and understand each other’s needs
• promote civil service talent, coaching and mentoring opportunities

By 2025

Compared to our 2021-22 baseline, we will employ proportionately more:

• 16 to 24-year-olds
• disabled people
• people from ethnic minority backgrounds
• women

We will work towards the Civil Service People Surveys and our own pulse research showing that:

• fewer colleagues feel they have been bullied or harassed at work
• colleagues feel confident to record their diversity information, including protected characteristics

Skills and learning

In 2022 to 2024

We will:

• increase our digital, data and technology capability, including data security, in step with government-wide ambitions
• develop leadership skills in all our managers
• widen the range of apprenticeships and opportunities to emerging technological and digital skills frameworks
• improve how we induct new starters and colleagues who win a promotion

By 2025

We will:

• develop a modern workforce, well-versed in current digital, data, technology and security, and fit to serve our Vision to 2030
• create a comprehensive suite of career pathways offering colleagues a positive future
• introduce entry level schemes and a talent pipeline that support our diversity ambitions
• devise a clear succession plan to serve our future workforce needs, supported by talent management frameworks and development programmes

Reward, recognition and employee value

In 2022 to 2024

We will:

• develop an approach that values and rewards colleagues and puts customer needs first
• build on our benefits package to provide support and advice to colleagues, allowing us to be at our best

By 2025

We will:

• reward our workforce adequately, flexibly and fairly
• develop a long-term reward strategy to serve our vision

Wellbeing, health and safety

In 2022 to 2024

We will:

• expand our plan, investing in wellbeing champions, mental health first aiders and our Employee Assistance Programme
• go beyond legislative standards to protect colleagues from abuse and assaults, adopting a zero-tolerance approach and working with customers to promote positive behaviours
• gain insights to our safety culture to help maintain our good safety record

By 2025

We will:

• encourage a leading-edge approach to wellbeing that supports colleagues’ needs and improves our working environment
• create great places to work, where we all feel supported and safe from inappropriate behaviour or abuse
• make sure everyone feels safe at work and can be at their best

5.2 Our customers

We asked our customers what they need from us and as a result we will offer simple, clear and fair services that work the way our customers want them to.

We will keep listening and we will harness data and technology. But people’s experience of working with us will improve whether it is online or in person.

Our Vision to 2030 sets out our customer principles. Our aims are to be:

• fair
• consistent
• clear
• professional
• helpful and approachable

We have listed the work we will do for customers of specific groups of services in the earlier sections, under the appropriate themes.

But this is what we are doing more generally to help all our customers.

Customer Service Centre

In 2024 to 2024

We will:

• continue to review our Customer Service Centre’s capacity to make we have the right channels and resources to satisfy customers
• increase capacity for customer service by recruiting, and with contractors to allow us to adapt to changing demand
• bring in new customer contact technology to improve customer insight and satisfaction

By 2025

We will:

• explore adding a web chat channel for customer service and, as it grows, look at customers’ needs for chatbots to improve self-service and accessibility
• use improved analytics technology to help us understand why customers needed to contact us, so we can introduce more self-service and improve customers’ experience

Digital, data, technology and security

In 2022 to 2024

We will:

• grow our service design capability
• share work across teams for greater clarity and customer insight
• give service designers a clear view of end-to-end customer journeys
• develop deeper views of the right technologies and capabilities for each service through appropriate architecture
• map systems against services for digital continuity
• develop a design system that underpins our technology decisions and processes
• improve insights from data by bringing good, reliable data sets together both from within DVSA and from elsewhere

By 2025

We will:

• adopt digital ways of working by default with regular changes in response to customers’ needs
• refresh our operating model and make better use of the specialist digital, data, technology and security professions, nurturing more skills and innovating
• develop a consistent DVSA-wide digital architecture and operational model for clearer and more consistent services

5.3 Our partners

Because effective relationships are always partnerships, never confrontations, we are committed to listening, collaboration and constructive conversations.

Our Vision to 2030 lists some of our crucial close partnerships, but there are many more and we want to establish more still.

The expertise needed to achieve our vision runs far beyond our own. Industry, academia, our suppliers, stakeholders and representatives of customer communities are valuable assets. Strategic collaboration offers the efficiencies we need, and many other mutual benefits.

Our vision also sets out how we aim to:

• be better together
• share understanding
• make trusted decisions
• work to share goals
• achieve better outcomes

In 2022 to 2024

We will:

• play a central role in CAVPASS (Connected and automated vehicles: process for assuring safety and security) to see Britain lead in introducing connected and automated vehicles safely and economically
• work closely with DfT, VCA, CCAV, the Law Commission and others to understand the implications of advances in vehicle technology
• chair the Motorcycle Strategic Focus Group to make sure motorcycling takes appropriate priority in future policies and strategy
• consult with the public and industry to gain diverse views and insight on each policy and service improvement
• work closely with the Environment Agency, local authorities and Transport for London on unlawful waste disposal, exhaust noise and emissions
• work with government and industry partners to increase capacity of HGV driver boot camps and driving tests
• support and audit partner sites that carry out off-road exercise tests for HGV and bus drivers
• keep collaborating with government and ATFs, among other partners, on the Heavy Vehicle Testing Review and Vehicle Approvals Transformation project
• accredit as ‘recognised’ or ‘endorsed’ the road safety products of other organisations that positively influence behaviours to make journeys safer and more sustainable
• involve researchers and the instruction industry to make the Ready to Pass? campaign as effective as possible
• give ATFs and other partners a way to interact with us and manage their accounts, through our Commercial Vehicle Services Programme
• work with the Office of the Traffic Commissioner (OTC) on bus service registration reform
• work with partners to add information about whether bus services run on time to the Bus Open Data Service
• work with our commercial publishing partners, TSO, and trainers and instructors in the Content Improvement Groups on the Safe Driving for Life site
• work with TSO to expand the e-learning in Safe Driving for Life to include ‘keeping your vehicle safe to drive’ and ‘protecting you from unsafe drivers and riders’
• increase opportunities for responsible businesses to advertise to our customers in our commercial books and digital estate
• work with DfT, VCA and industry on any standards, testing and enforcement required for e-scooters and low-speed electric 2-wheeled vehicles
• work with representative bodies for people with special educational needs and abilities to improve the adjustments we can make for these customers
• continue contributing to the DfT THINK Campaign, RAC Foundation’s DriveFit.info and similar, to school and college-level pre-driver education
• work with representatives of vulnerable road users to educate and advise drivers and riders

By 2025

We will:

• safely develop and introduce self-driving, connected and automated vehicles through our work with CAVPASS
• continue to work with other organisations on developing the connected and automated mobility roadmap to 2030
• explore expanding Earned Recognition to more schemes across DVSA
• review and improve our accreditation schemes, including those for pre-driver, vocational and professional education products
• innovate and broaden opportunities in reletting the contract to be our commercial publishing partners for learning resources, source texts and e-learning
• integrate vocational driver services with industry, so they are easier to use and flexible enough to fit customers’ business models
• work with DfT, VCA and DVLA to review the fitness for future purpose and customer experience of the Individual Vehicle Approvals testing model
• explore with partners the potential road safety and environmental opportunities and risks from changing MOT frequency for all or some vehicle types
• provide more and better information, education and advice through Safe Driving for Life partnership and associated product development for commercial operators and their staff, including dangerous goods hauliers
• enhance support through our commercial publishing partners for Home Office-funded bodies that educate and advise refugee communities, to support them in contributing to the economy by accessing remote agricultural employment and driving jobs
• support more organisations that help offenders to rehabilitate and ex-service people to find civilian work through education, advice and training for driving jobs, with offline e-learning products through our commercial publishing partners

6. Supporting our work

6.1 Finance

This plan sets out the ideas, partnerships, talent management and modern technologies to give our customers efficient and excellent services according to their needs.

Our medium-term financial plan will enable effective financial management. It will focus on financial sustainability and value for money, leading to excellent services for our customers. And it will allow us to use the right resource in the right timeframe.

DVSA’s efficiency plan will save money, make better use of our resources, and help us to rationalise our estate. We are prioritising our investment portfolio to support projects that maximise benefits to customers and efficiencies for DVSA. We will continue to make sure that the fees we charge reflect the cost of providing an excellent service that meets our customers’ needs.

Our commercial strategy will help us to plan, manage and run our contracts consistently. And strategic relationships with suppliers will increase value for money and support high quality services to our customers.

6.2 Managing change

We will improve the way we manage and carry out change. We will streamline the end-to-end process, making our programmes and projects more successful. That will give us the flexibility to respond to shifting circumstances and make it easier and quicker to agree and support change.

We will involve from the start those affected by plans for change. We will invite their ideas for improvement and welcome their help in shaping how we work and in tracking the benefits. We will also put colleagues at the centre of the process, involving them and keeping them informed. We know that change is often unsettling, so it is important that we support each other’s wellbeing and build up resilience.

We will improve our partnership with our unions. And we will communicate with colleagues and their representative networks, reaping the benefit of their diverse views and ideas. We will listen before we make decisions and take advice on how to introduce changes.

Our people are our best asset. They are vital to providing excellent services to our customers and achieving our aim of improving road safety.

6.3 Digital, data, technology and security

This plan clearly shows how determined we are to harness data and technology to improve each of our services and our commitments to customers. We need to adopt digital ways of working by default, end to end. We want users of our services to see regular, helpful changes based on their needs.

Service design

To achieve the improvements in services and to make DVSA a great place for the best digital professionals to work, we will build cross-functional teams. They will support policy design and delivery according to our customer principles.

Sharing work across teams gives us greater clarity and insight, particularly through:

• customer journeys
• DVSA-wide digital architecture
• digital continuity
• a design system

Insight data is crucial if we are to understand where we need to improve. And it will also guide our engagement with customers to understand and improve their experience.

We are bringing data together from various sources for even better insight with appropriate technology and data governance. We are also improving our understanding of the relative quality and reliability of our different data sets.

Our operating model

To make services better at pace, we need consistently to operate efficiently and sustainably. Our plans recognise the rapid pace of innovation, and the growth in opportunities to harness technology. The digital operating model that we are developing will make the needs for improvement clearer, so that every aspect of each solution fits with the next and is well built.

Digital skills

We will make the cross-government Digital, Data, Technology and Security professions part of a department-wide pay framework. This plan and the new operating model requires us to attract talent and bring in new skills. And its renewed focus on innovation means retaining and upskilling home-grown talent.

The security of our systems and data is paramount and we are growing our skill sets in cybersecurity and data protection. That means our services will be able to withstand the growing threats.

We are working with cross departmental and government security experts and using global benchmarking tools to help us address crucial areas to protect our systems, data and colleagues.

6.4 Sustainability

Our Vision to 2030 makes it plain how essential it is that we operate sustainably through:

• our frontline services
• our contracts with suppliers
• the way we manage our resources

Our work up to now, and in these first 3 years, sets the foundation for our Vision to 2030.

The road to net zero

For the safer, greener and cleaner road transport our Vision to 2030 aspires to, we need to support the Greening Government Commitment, Mitigating Climate Change. That sets a carbon reduction target to meet net zero by 2050, in line with UK legislation. So in 2019 DVSA decided to aim to achieve net zero by 2040. And we are including carbon reduction into our decision-making processes, business strategy and planning.

We are reviewing the sustainable development strategy we launched in 2018, to include our new themes and targets.

Business travel accounts for 50% of our carbon emissions, 25% from direct burning of gas, oil and other liquids for heating, and 25% derived from the electricity we use.

Travel

Our target is to reduce business travel emissions by 5% of the 2017 to 18 baseline each year. Our enhanced travel policy will minimise unproductive travel time and help reduce associated carbon emissions.

We already achieved the Government Fleet Commitment of a 25% ultra-low emissions vehicle (ULEV) fleet by 2022. And we are working to meet the 100% Zero Emission Vehicle (cars and vans) requirement by 2027. We will continue with the roll out of ULEVs whilst we develop solutions for the full electric transition.

Buildings

We ran a pilot decarbonisation project at Burton-on-Trent Multi-Purpose Test Centre in 2022. This set the baseline for building performance and energy demand for a larger-scale project to follow. We are reviewing our needs for fixed sites generally, which might also contribute to our aim to achieve net zero by 2040.

Renewables

Since April 2022, DVSA has been on a 100% renewable electricity tariff. Although we will still report assumed carbon emissions, using electricity from 100% renewable sources allows us to reach carbon neutrality for all our electricity use. We also plan to contribute to DfT’s on-site generation strategy by increasing how much renewable electricity we can generate.

Waste

With a single waste management provider, we can now look to standardise our site waste collections. We can increase recycling rates and gain useful data to help us improve our waste performance.

Procurement

Our commercial arrangements not only benefit us, but also society and the economy, while minimising damage to the environment. We consider whether there are related social, economic or environmental benefits that we can achieve through the contracts we let. In particular, we:

• incorporate Government Buying Standards for sustainable procurement in our contracts
• make sure that opportunities for added social value and environmental benefit are well defined in our strategies and through our commercial arrangements
• train commercial staff on how to support and promote social value and environmental considerations through commercial arrangements