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Inaccessible Government
Caution: Massive vent ahead!
Sorry, this is not going to be an in-depth political analysis like some of Michael's posts (though in-depth it will be - be warned), but I had to laugh at this. Peter Robinson has announced that the Northern Ireland administration "are introducing a single number for accessing government services in Northern Ireland" to "make it easier for the public to contact government and obtain a better service".
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the idea of making government services accessible. It's just that sticking an automated operator ("Press 1 for DoE" etc.) won't do much. You see, the main thing preventing easy access to government services is not having to look up a phone number in the phone book or online, it's the fact that the places are never bloody open!
Let me explain: I recently bought a car to replace the 12-year old one generously donated to be 3 or 4 years ago by my mum, while I was still a student. Obviously I'd need to get it taxed before I can drive it. Sadly, the DVA insisted on making this as painful an experience as possible. I wanted to blog it on Saturday but earlier in the day I was far too angry and by Saturday night I'd taken ill. I'd thought I'd let it slide but Robinson's announcement today was just too good an opportunity to pass up.
Follow up:
You'd think taxing a car is a simple matter of:
1. Fill in form (printed from the internet)
2. Take form to Post Office with relevant documents (insurance certificate, etc.)
3. Hand over cash and get tax disc
OK, it was never going to be quite that simple. Let me take you back a bit. On my old car I was only insured 3rd Party, Fire and Theft, meaning I wasn't insured to drive any other cars (Fully Comprehensive insurance usually allows you to drive other cars but cover would be equivalent to Third Party only). So to pick up the car I'd bought I had to drive to my parents house, from which I drove my dad to the site where my new car was waiting so he could drive it back to his house.
The next morning (Friday) I phoned my insurance company to get my cover switched to the new motor. Now I needed a car to get to and from work the following week, and since I couldn't tax (and therefore drive) the new car until I had the new insurance certificate, I needed to remain insured on the old one until the new certificate had arrived. To be safe, I told them to start the cover from the following Saturday, giving the certificate a week to arrive and figuring I could get the vehicle taxed on the Saturday morning at the Post Office, drive to my parents house where the car remained, have the insurance switched at noon, drive the new one home in the afternoon.
OK, it's a little bit complicated, but so far so good.
However I was soon to be foiled by the failings of government. The simple 3 steps outlined above is indeed the process as it should work. Most Post Offices can complete a tax renewal, but the V10 form (for registering a car for the first time in your name) is accepted at only 3 Post Offices in Belfast. That's fine though, I normally go to the City-Centre one anyway. On checking the DVA web site, I realised I could do it at Shaftsbury Square instead though, so down I popped on the Saturday morning, at which point my problems began.
You see, the Shaftsbury Square Post Office does indeed take V10 forms, but because the previous owner of my vehicle was disabled, they were unable to process the tax as it would require a change in taxation class. This meant going to the local tax office which, I had a fairly good guess, would be closed on Saturdays. It was.
Never mind exactly why the Post Office can't do this (which is definitely a worthwhile question in and of itself!) but why wouldn't the DVA web site tell you this? It details the list of Post Offices which can process renewals (V11s) and those which process new registrations (V10s). Is it too much to ask for a brief line at the bottom saying "By the way, if the previous owner of your vehicle was disabled, you'll have to come to the DVLNI office instead"? How hard would that be, really?
I got home and phoned DVA (formerly DVLNI) to see if there was anywhere in Northern Ireland where I could tax my car on a Saturday. I know it's a long shot for a government agency to be open on the weekend when it would actually be useful to people, but it was the only chance I had. I mean come on, I can't be the first person who works full time and needs to tax a car. Unfortunately, the DVA can't even have someone on the end of a phone outside office hours, so I get an "information line" which tells me even less than the web site. Oh, and I found out the local offices are only open from 9:15 am to 4:00 pm - Christ! The Red Mist had by now managed to form itself into a thick, soupy fog which was menacingly threatening to manifest itself in extreme violence inflicted upon the nearest wall and/or next DVA employee I met.
I had no choice but to go to the local office at the start of the week, before work. I'd go down on Monday morning, wait for them opening at 9:15 am, get back home (because let's face it, even if I bent the rules and drove an untaxed car down, I had sweet fk all chance of getting it parked anywhere near the centre of Belfast at 9:00 on a Monday morning), and hope I wasn't too late for work. When I eventually did get my car taxed on the Monday, it took about 10-15 minutes of waiting followed by a couple of minutes handing over the form and cheque and getting my tax disc. I still have no idea why this simple procedure couldn't have been carried out on the Saturday morning at the Post Office and saved me all the grief, but it gets better.
Under the Review of Public Administration, much of the work of the DVA NI will be moving to the DVLA in Cardiff as part of a "Vehicle Centralisation Policy" . Here's what the DVA say:
"much of the work currently done in Coleraine will transfer to Swansea and most vehicle re-licensing will be carried out through expanded services in Post Offices® and by online or telephone services. This will also mean retaining only enforcement work (that is taking action against motorists caught using unlicensed vehicles) and 3 out of the existing network of 8 local offices in NI."
Equality Impact Assessment (page 4)
"Expanded services in Post Offices"? They better be bloody well expanded if they can't do something simple like this. It's not like I was trying to get my tax reduced by claiming to be disabled. I needed to change the tax class from disabled to the standard "Private/Light Goods". I could understand it if I'd been switching the other way and (presumably) paying less tax as a result, but come on! As for "online or telephone services?" I think these need serious expanding too! Maybe having people on the phone outside office hours or, God forbid, on a Saturday morning?!
I know it's too late but these changes needed to happen long before they even think about closing 5 of the 8 local offices? The offices aren't even open 9 to 5 as it is for fk sake! I was thinking to myself over the weekend that it was bloody lucky I live within walking distance of my local office, what if I'd lived in the countryside? I'd have needed a whole bloody day off work to get to the "local office" and tax my car!
Nobody's died and I now have a taxed car, but the whole experience has left a rotten taste in my mouth. If citizens have to jump through this many hoops when they're trying to give the government money, how difficult must it be to get it off them when they owe you?!
A new phone number is not going to fix this. A drastic change in culture in the public sector is needed. Public-facing government agencies need to be run like businesses to make them accessible. At the bare minimum this means opening on Saturday mornings and having web sites that provide up to date information. I don't think it's too much to ask for them to open one or two evenings a week as well, and provide more services directly over the internet. In some cases, a bit of common sense would be nice too. A good example is the 14-day grace period for car tax renewals where you can backdate your renewal for up to 14-days from the expiry of your previous year's tax. Unfortunately this doesn't apply to new registrations. A similar grace period for new registrations from the date you purchase your car would allow people to sort this out by post instead of running around on a Saturday morning or worse, being forced to take potentially a half-day or a day off work for the sake of handing a form over a counter.