Attend bookings despite strikes, DVSA says

DVSA is urging operators to attend heavy vehicle MOT tests despite members of its staff announcing strikes next month.

Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) served DVSA notice of strike action on 8 and 9 February, including all PCS members in DVSA including driving examiners and customer service centre agents, as well as on 10 and 11 February, which includes any PCS members in DVSA contracted to work weekends.

DVSA does not expect this action by PCS to affect its heavy vehicle annual test service, but it admits it will not know for certain until the strike action takes place. in light of this, it says to continue to attend your annual test bookings as planned.

The government organisation says its customer service centre might be affected by the strike action, meaning it may take longer than usual to answer queries. The customer service centre will be open from 8am to 4pm on 8 and 9 February.

DVSA has been working with PCS to address concerns raised about the working arrangements for driving examiners and the driving test service provided by DVSA. DVSA has made an offer to PCS to end the dispute, which has been rejected.

The strikes follow a dispute over the Agency’s driver services recovery programme, which seeks to recover backlogs to a national average of seven weeks by 31 March 2024. According to PCS, the programme poses significant safety risks to test candidates and examiners, as well as an erosion of staff’s terms and conditions.