Earlier this year, we launched the Driver and vehicles account, a new way for motorists to view their driving licence and vehicle details in one place. There is also the option to choose to receive vehicle tax reminders by text or email. This development is a huge milestone for DVLA and motorists as we continue to evolve our digital services for the benefit of our customers.
In this blog, we share how easy it is to set up an account, and why you should do it!
How to set up your Driver and vehicles account
It only takes 5 minutes to complete, simply:
What you can do with a Driver and vehicles account
Created an account and logged in? You’ll now be able to:
Continuing to evolve the account
We’re continuing to add additional services within the account. Since launch, we’ve made it possible for professional drivers to view their CPC and tachograph driver card details within their account.
And we’re not stopping there! When it comes to renewing your driving licence every 10 years, the Driver and vehicles account will enable you to upload your own driving licence photo, instead of having to use your passport photo.
If you’re applying for a first provisional driving licence, you’ll also be able to do this through your Driver and vehicles account in the coming months.
56,000 accounts – and counting!
We’ve had more than 56,000 customers set up an account since it was launched in August 2023. Motorists are already taking advantage of the 24 hour online service and accessing their driving and vehicle details in one place. So don’t miss out!
To help us continue developing the new service, we want to hear your feedback – if you have anything you would like to share with us about your experience, please fill in the satisfaction survey upon setting up your account.
For future updates, keep an eye on our social media channels and sign up to our email alerts. You can also subscribe to this blog channel for all the latest updates.
]]>Our online services are the quickest, easiest and often cheapest way to transact with DVLA. Whether that’s renewing your driving licence, telling us you’ve sold a vehicle or making a SORN, by going online, you can be sure to receive a speedy and efficient service.
We regularly remind our customers of the importance of only using GOV.UK, the official government website. We want our customers to feel safe and secure when using our online services, so we’ve asked Phil Morgan, Head of Fraud Policy Investigations, for his top tips in staying safe online and recognising fraudulent activity.
The best advice we can provide is to only use GOV.UK for DVLA’s services. Some websites can look like they’re affiliated with DVLA or claim to be part of an official government service when they’re not.
These are third-party companies which often charge a premium for passing a driver’s details through to us when it’d be cheaper or free on GOV.UK. For example, our renew your driving licence at 70 service is free on GOV.UK, whereas some customers have been charged a premium by using a third-party website.
These sites can appear high up in the results of a Google search, so to avoid being caught out, make sure www.gov.uk is included in the URL.
If you’re in doubt, you can also search on GOV.UK to find all our online services.
Make sure you never give out personal details such as date of birth, National Insurance number or driving licence number on social media. Similarly, if you post pictures of your official documents such as your log book (V5C) or driving licence, scammers can steal your information to commit fraud.
It’s also important to remember not to share your V5 document reference number – particularly to a prospective purchaser.
There’s been an increase in the number of fake social media accounts that either claim to be DVLA or affiliated with us in some way. These accounts promise to offer driving licence renewals or replacement documents at a speedier rate, however, an application made through a third-party company is not processed any quicker than one received through our official GOV.UK services. We’ve listed DVLA’s official social media channels on GOV.UK, so you can be sure you’re at the right place.
Aside from regularly reminding our customers of the importance of only using GOV.UK, we also encourage customers to be vigilant and to familiarise themselves with how to recognise fraudulent emails, texts, websites and calls. We actively pursue any scams reported to us and remove the website, or the URL link, where it is appropriate to do so.
Our online services are completely safe and secure to use, so other than ensuring you’re only using GOV.UK to transact with DVLA, if you come across any suspicious activity, you can play your part in helping us combat fraud by:
You can access our many online services available on GOV.UK. For the latest information about our services, you can sign up to our email alerts.
Follow DVLA on Twitter, follow us on Facebook and connect with us on LinkedIn. You can also subscribe to our Inside DVLA blog.
[English] - [Cymraeg]
Ein gwasanaethau ar-lein yw’r ffordd gyflymaf, hawsaf ac, yn aml, rataf i drafod â DVLA. P'un a yw hynny'n adnewyddu'ch trwydded yrru, rhoi gwybod inni eich bod wedi gwerthu cerbyd neu wneud HOS, drwy fynd ar-lein, gallwch fod yn sicr o dderbyn gwasanaeth buan ac effeithlon.
Rydym yn atgoffa ein cwsmeriaid yn rheolaidd o bwysigrwydd defnyddio GOV.UK yn unig, sef gwefan swyddogol y Llywodraeth. Rydym am i'n cwsmeriaid deimlo'n ddiogel wrth ddefnyddio ein gwasanaethau ar-lein, felly rydym wedi gofyn i Phil Morgan, Pennaeth Ymchwiliadau Polisi Twyll, am ei awgrymiadau gwych o ran cadw'n ddiogel ar-lein a chydnabod gweithgarwch twyllodrus.
Y cyngor gorau y gallwn ei ddarparu yw i ddefnyddio GOV.UK yn unig ar gyfer gwasanaethau DVLA. Gall rhai gwefannau edrych fel eu bod yn gysylltiedig â DVLA neu'n honni eu bod yn rhan o wasanaeth swyddogol gan y llywodraeth pan nad ydyn nhw.
Cwmnïau trydydd parti yw'r rhain sy'n aml yn codi premiwm am basio manylion gyrrwr drwodd inni pan fyddai'n rhatach neu'n rhad ac am ddim ar GOV.UK. Er enghraifft, mae ein gwasanaeth i adnewyddu eich trwydded yrru yn 70 am ddim ar GOV.UK, tra bod rhai cwsmeriaid wedi gorfod talu premiwm wrth ddefnyddio gwefan trydydd parti.
Gall y gwefannau hyn ymddangos yn uchel yng nghanlyniadau chwiliad Google, felly er mwyn osgoi cael eich dal allan, gwnewch yn siŵr bod www.gov.uk yn cael ei gynnwys yn yr URL.
Os oes gennych unrhyw amheuaeth, gallwch hefyd chwilio ar GOV.UK i ddod o hyd i'n holl wasanaethau ar-lein.
Gwnewch yn siŵr nad ydych byth yn rhoi manylion personol fel dyddiad geni, rhif Yswiriant Gwladol na rhif trwydded yrru ar y cyfryngau cymdeithasol. Yn yr un modd, os ydych yn postio lluniau o'ch dogfennau swyddogol fel eich llyfr log (V5CW) neu'ch trwydded yrru, gall sgamwyr ddwyn eich gwybodaeth i gyflawni twyll.
Mae'n bwysig cofio hefyd i beidio â rhannu eich cyfeirnod dogfen V5CW - yn enwedig gyda darpar brynwr.
Bu cynnydd yn nifer y cyfrifon cyfryngau cymdeithasol ffug naill ai'n honni eu bod yn DVLA neu eu bod yn gysylltiedig â ni mewn rhyw ffordd. Mae'r cyfrifon hyn yn addo cynnig adnewyddiadau trwydded yrru neu ddogfennau amnewid ar raddfa gyflymach, fodd bynnag, nid yw cais a wneir drwy gwmni trydydd parti yn cael ei brosesu'n gynt nag un a dderbynnir drwy ein gwasanaethau GOV.UK swyddogol. Rydym wedi rhestru sianeli cyfryngau cymdeithasol swyddogol DVLA ar GOV.UK, felly gallwch fod yn sicr eich bod yn y lle iawn.
Ar wahân i atgoffa ein cwsmeriaid yn rheolaidd o bwysigrwydd defnyddio GOV.UK yn unig, rydym hefyd yn annog cwsmeriaid i fod yn wyliadwrus ac i ymgyfarwyddo â sut i adnabod e-byst, negeseuon testun, gwefannau a galwadau twyllodrus.
Rydym yn mynd ati i ddilyn unrhyw sgamiau a adroddwyd inni a dileu'r wefan, neu'r ddolen URL, lle mae'n briodol gwneud hynny.
Mae ein gwasanaethau ar-lein yn gwbl ddiogel i'w defnyddio, felly ar wahân i sicrhau eich bod ond yn defnyddio GOV.UK i drafod â DVLA, os dewch ar draws unrhyw weithgaredd amheus, gallwch chwarae eich rhan wrth ein helpu i frwydro yn erbyn twyll drwy:
Gallwch gael mynediad at ein llu o wasanaethau ar-lein sydd ar gael ar GOV.UK. I gael y wybodaeth ddiweddaraf am ein gwasanaethau, gallwch gofrestru ar gyfer ein hysbysiadau e-bost.
]]>We’ve recently launched our latest vehicle tax evasion campaign, ‘Tax it, don’t risk it’, to remind our customers of the importance of taxing their vehicle on time.
Did you know that you can set up a Direct Debit when you tax your vehicle online or at a Post Office? It’s never been easier to tax your vehicle and with the option to spread your payments out throughout the year, you can be sure that your vehicle is taxed at all times.
Still have questions? Don’t worry, we’ve answered some of the most frequently asked questions about renewing vehicle tax with Direct Debit.
You can set up a Direct Debit when you tax your vehicle online or at a Post Office.
You do not need to be the vehicle’s registered keeper to set up a Direct Debit. Emails and letters about Direct Debit payments are sent to the account holder.
You need:
You cannot set up a Direct Debit for an account that needs 2 signatures.
No, once your Direct Debit is set up you’re good to go and it will automatically renew - one less thing to remember!
Once you’ve told us you’ve changed your vehicle, we’ll cancel your Direct Debit and you’ll get a refund for any full months of remaining tax.
The amount you pay depends on how often you want to make a payment.
There’s a 5% surcharge if you pay monthly or 6 monthly.
Your vehicle tax is automatically renewed when it’s due. It’s a helpful way to spread the cost, making sure you don’t forget and risk financial penalties, court action, clamping and even the loss of a car. It's also flexible, simple to do, saves time and gives you peace of mind.
Cancel your Direct Debit with your bank or building society and tax your vehicle again selecting the payment method of your choice.
If you need to change your bank details, go to: www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax-direct-debit/change-accounts for more information.
Spread the cost of your vehicle tax with Direct Debit. Tax it, don’t risk it!
Full details and everything you need to know on paying your vehicle tax by Direct Debit can be found here: www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax-direct-debit
]]>The Code Challenge was split into categories based on age (7 to 11 and 11 to 16) and there were 12 different themes that were set by our associates. This was now each school’s opportunity to showcase the results of all their hard work and efforts to their fellow competitors, the judges and to those streaming from locations across Wales.
This year, we also gave students aged 16 to 18 the opportunity to get involved for the first time by introducing a new ‘Commerce in Code Challenge’. We invited sixth forms and college students to participate in a 2-week work experience opportunity with us, challenging them to design a new DVLA STEM website.
Each school showcased a video of the game they had coded, followed by a live presentation. We listened as students gave insight into how they coded them, using online tools such as ‘Scratch’. We also got to see a live demonstration of every game. It was great to see young people using the skills needed to think like coders, and you could really see their sense of pride after receiving a long-lasting round of applause from the audience.
With the conclusion of our entrants’ presentations, we opened the voting for everyone at the event, as well as those who were watching at home, to decide their favourites.
Now that the vote was open and the morning’s activities were concluded, it was time to break for lunch. This gave all pupils – and teachers – the chance to investigate the interactive stalls which were set up outside by our partners and sponsors. It was wonderful to see children of all ages getting stuck in and having fun with the games and challenges.
Immediately after lunch, we got the participants warmed up for the afternoon ahead with a game of “Beachball Bingo” - we launched dozens of numbered beachballs across the room and each number called won a prize in the form of IT bundles, Lego kits, drones and much more.
All that was left to do was announce the winners of the different age categories. It’s amazing to see how skilled these children are and you can’t help but wonder what bright futures await them. But in the end, the results were counted, confirmed and the winners were announced…
First place – winning £2000 for their schools:
Second place – winning £1,500 for their schools:
In third place – winning £1,000 for their schools:
‘Special prize’ for having the best video - winning £1,000 for their school - Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Pontardawe.
Last but not least, I’m proud to reveal that the winner of ‘Commerce in Code’ was Coleg Sir Gar, winning £3,000 of IT equipment and the chance to make their concept a reality with us in the future.
Finally, I’d like to extend our gratitude to all of our wonderful partners and sponsors. Without their exceptional support, none of these events would be possible.
Harry Jones, Pupil at St. Joseph’s Catholic School
We wanted to enter as it seemed like a bit of fun and a good chance to put our coding skills into practice. The best part of the day was seeing everyone’s reaction to our video and game, we really enjoyed putting it together.
Martha Getliff, Teacher at Cantref Primary (winners, 7 to 11-year-old category category)
Thank you for a wonderful day. The children thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it with all the excellent activities and fun.
Thank you also for the amazing prizes. They'll certainly be put to good use and encourage the children to further improve their coding skills.
Holly Stephenson, Teacher at Bishopston Primary School
The event has been excellent and really engaging. All the children thoroughly enjoyed and it’s a really good way of getting kids into STEM. We will enter again next year.
The Code Challenge is getting bigger and better every year. If you’d like to enter your primary or secondary school, sixth form, or college into our 2023 Code Challenge, registration will be available early next year. For details on how to sign up, keep an eye out across our social media channels and the DVLA STEM website.
]]>
If you’re due to renew your driving licence, did you know our online service is the easiest, quickest and most convenient way to do it? You must renew your photocard licence every 10 years, so why not join the 2 million customers who chose to use our online service this year?
In this blog, we’ll outline the reasons why you should consider renewing your driving licence online, along with a helpful guide on how to use our online service.
There are many benefits to renewing your driving licence online.
Our online service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and is easy to use. The service has been designed to guide customers through the application and takes only minutes to complete.
There’s no need to fill in any paper forms, you can even use your photo and signature straight from your valid UK passport, meaning less paperwork than ever.
It’s also quicker than applying by post. By applying online, you should receive your new licence within a week.
If that wasn’t enough, our online service is the cheapest way to renew your driving licence, costing only £14 to renew online, compared to £17 by post. Again, be careful to only use GOV.UK and not a third-party renewal website as they often charge a premium for passing a driver’s application to DVLA.
To renew online, you will need:
Once you’ve got everything you need, just:
Once you’ve completed your application, you will receive an email to confirm it has been submitted. Make a note of your application reference number, which you can use to track the progress of your application online.
Remember, you must send your old photocard licence back to us once you get your new licence. The address will be provided on completion of your application.
Here are some of the comments from customers who’ve used our online renewal service:
“I used the online service and found it very easy, I’ll definitely use it again in the future.”
“It's a better, quicker and cheaper way to apply.”
So, if you’re due to renew your driving licence, why not try our online service? It’s easier, quicker, cheaper and completely secure on GOV.UK.
We have many online services available on GOV.UK. For the latest information about our services, sign up to our email alerts. You can also join our online research panel to help us improve our services.
Follow DVLA on Twitter, follow us on Facebook and connect with us on LinkedIn. You can also subscribe to our Inside DVLA blog.
[English] - [Cymraeg]
Os ydych chi i fod i adnewyddu eich trwydded yrru, a wyddech chi mai ein gwasanaeth ar-lein yw'r ffordd hawsaf, gyflymaf a mwyaf cyfleus i'w wneud? Mae’n rhaid ichi adnewyddu eich trwydded cerdyn-llun bob 10 mlynedd, felly beth am ymuno â’r 2 filiwn o gwsmeriaid a ddewisodd ddefnyddio ein gwasanaeth ar-lein eleni?
Yn y blog hwn, byddwn yn amlinellu’r rhesymau pam y dylech ystyried adnewyddu eich trwydded yrru ar-lein, ynghyd â chanllaw defnyddiol ar sut i ddefnyddio ein gwasanaeth ar-lein.
Mae llawer o fanteision i adnewyddu eich trwydded yrru ar-lein.
Mae ein gwasanaeth ar-lein ar gael 24 awr y dydd, 365 diwrnod y flwyddyn ac mae'n hawdd ei ddefnyddio. Mae'r gwasanaeth wedi'i gynllunio i arwain cwsmeriaid trwy'r cais ac mae'n cymryd munudau yn unig i'w gwblhau.
Nid oes angen llenwi unrhyw ffurflenni papur, gallwch hyd yn oed ddefnyddio’ch ffotograff a llofnod yn syth o'ch pasbort y DU dilys, sy'n golygu llai o waith papur nag erioed.
Mae hefyd yn gyflymach na gwneud cais drwy'r post. Drwy wneud cais ar-lein, dylech dderbyn eich trwydded newydd o fewn wythnos.
Os nad oedd hynny’n ddigon, ein gwasanaeth ar-lein yw’r ffordd rataf i adnewyddu eich trwydded yrru, gan gostio dim ond £14 i adnewyddu ar-lein, o’i gymharu â £17 drwy’r post. Unwaith eto, byddwch yn ofalus i ddefnyddio GOV.UK yn unig ac nid gwefan adnewyddu trydydd parti gan eu bod yn aml yn codi premiwm am drosglwyddo cais gyrrwr i DVLA.
I adnewyddu ar-lein, bydd angen:
Unwaith y bydd gennych bopeth sydd ei angen arnoch, mae dim ond angen gwneud y canlynol:
Unwaith y byddwch wedi cwblhau’ch cais, byddwch yn derbyn e-bost i gadarnhau ei fod wedi'i gyflwyno. Gwnewch nodyn o gyfeirnod eich cais, y gallwch ei ddefnyddio i olrhain cynnydd eich cais ar-lein.
Cofiwch, rhaid ichi anfon eich hen drwydded cerdyn-llun yn ôl atom unwaith y byddwch yn cael eich trwydded newydd. Rhoddir y cyfeiriad ar ôl cwblhau eich cais.
Dyma rai o’r sylwadau gan gwsmeriaid sydd wedi defnyddio ein gwasanaeth adnewyddu ar-lein:
“Defnyddiais y gwasanaeth ar-lein ac roedd yn hawdd iawn, byddaf yn bendant yn ei ddefnyddio eto yn y dyfodol.”
“Mae’n ffordd well, cyflymach a rhatach o wneud cais.”
Felly, os ydych chi ar fin adnewyddu eich trwydded yrru, beth am roi cynnig ar ein gwasanaeth ar-lein? Mae’n haws, yn gyflymach, yn rhatach ac yn gwbl ddiogel ar GOV.UK.
Mae gennym lawer o wasanaethau ar-lein ar gael ar GOV.UK. Am y wybodaeth ddiweddaraf ynghylch ein gwasanaethau, cofrestrwch ar gyfer ein rhybuddion e-bost. Gallwch hefyd ymuno â'n panel ymchwil ar-lein i'n helpu i wella ein gwasanaethau.
]]>We recently partnered with Chwarae Teg to host their ‘Not Just for Boys’ event, promoting digital skills and careers to girls from a local school.
Chwarae Teg are a charity that advocate gender equality and inclusion for women in Wales – a mission that DVLA completely supports. As a leading digital and technology employer in the region, it’s important we encourage more women into digital roles and inspire young girls to consider a career in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
It was a pleasure to welcome Chwarae Teg and the girls from Birchgrove Comprehensive School to our Richard Ley Development Centre for a day full of STEM learning activities.
Let’s take a look at what we got up to!
We started the morning by introducing the girls to DVLA, what we do, and the activities we had in store for them. We also gave them a preview of the digital career and development opportunities the agency offers.
Then the fun began! The girls were divided into groups, with each group taking part in activities run by our STEM Ambassadors and colleagues from our Emerging Tech Lab.
The girls had the chance to experiment with emerging technology by programming drones and robots, including the Ohbot educational robot. The Ohbot is a fantastic tool – it’s a small robot that emulates the human face and provides several problem-solving activities to encourage computational thinking. Seeing the girls have fun with this was brilliant!
In addition to testing the robots, flying drones, and virtual glasses, each group also had the opportunity to try Python and Scratch online tools, which taught the girls programming languages and coding.
As the day progressed, we alternated coding with some challenges set by our Agile team. The challenges were designed to foster teamwork and introduce the girls to Agile working principles. There was also some fun competition too!
In their teams, the girls competed by racing a Sphero around a track. The Sphero is a small spherical ball that was operated by the girls, who had to learn how to make it move in the right direction. It was an excellent way to encourage interactive learning. I must say, it looked really fun to operate and was just as much fun to watch!
Finally, the girls had the opportunity to hear from our Digital Voices advocates, a panel of inspirational women working in digital.
The panel included experienced female leaders at DVLA, as well as recent recruits on our digital development programmes. The girls listened to some wonderful success stories and learned about the different routes into IT, how to build their digital skills and the opportunities to progress to more senior roles.
Throughout the day, I was struck by how engaged the girls were and how excited our own teams were to support and share their stories – it was a great day all around!
I want to say a huge thank you to our STEM Ambassadors, Chwarae Teg, Birchgrove Comprehensive School and everybody who made this event happen. It was a fantastic experience for the girls, and we had some wonderful feedback on the day:
“The girls have had the opportunity to experience a range of technology and speak to many inspiring guest speakers to gain a better understanding of the career opportunities in the world of IT for women. The activities were well organised; we have all thoroughly enjoyed each session. We will leave today, positive, inspired and motivated.”
– Carla Parker, Birchgrove Comprehensive School.
“Our ‘Not Just for Boys’ events shine a light on career paths for young girls and women. It was clear to see that the students really valued the opportunity to learn more about the digital jobs and career options in their local area, and left feeling inspired by the role models that they met and learned from. It was a really engaging and thought-provoking event.”
– Emily Loosemore, Chwarae Teg.
We will continue to take a generational approach to skills development and building our talent pipeline as we look to inspire, attract and grow potential right across the region. We’re looking forward to hosting more events like this in the future.
Our upcoming Code Challenge event is taking place in December, which I’m really excited about, and we’ll continue to promote digital skills at careers events in our local community. You can find out more about the work we do at our STEM website (also available in Welsh).
If you’re interested in a digital career, learn more about digital careers at DVLA or visit Civil Service Jobs for the latest vacancies.
You can also visit Chwarae Teg to find out more about the good work they do.
]]>As part of our Evolve transformation programme, our strategic enquiries team have built suites of new enquiry services using new technology platforms. This has enabled us to decommission our legacy technology and easily share our data with those who need it, such as the Home Office, His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).
Sharing data can help improve services, bringing benefits to the public and wider government. Our new enquiry services have been used more than 30 million times, saving money for the police and public as well as improving road safety and reducing fraudulent driving tests.
So, let’s take a look at the services we’ve been working on…
In collaboration with the Home Office, we’ve started rolling out our ‘Photo at the Roadside’ service to the majority of police forces in the country. The service, which was piloted in 2019, allows police officers to access the photograph held on DVLA’s driver database through their police issued mobile devices, enabling them to confirm the correct identity of a driver almost instantly.
There have been over one million transactions and more than 200,000 policing hours saved already. The service is now being used by 35 out of 45 police forces across the UK and has, I’m pleased to say, received a ‘Highly Commended’ award at this year’s Digital Technology Leaders Awards.
We’ve also been supporting the Home Office with their new Law Enforcement Data Service (LEDS) to provide the police with accurate and timely data. The service will replace the existing critical national infrastructure system, the Police National Computer, which was first launched in 1974 and is now reaching end of life.
LEDS will meet the needs of modern policing by providing the police access to driver and vehicle data in real-time, allowing them to confirm details such as a driver’s identification. Our driver data is currently live, and we’ve just started work on providing vehicle data through private beta testing. We’ve had great feedback from the police about the service, which is in pilot with Cheshire and North Yorkshire forces, and this will ultimately save the police time and money.
Following on from our work to digitise paper-based prosecutions, we again teamed up with HMCTS to help progress their single justice transformation programme.
We delivered significant technical changes for HMCTS, allowing the courts to easily access our data instantly, such as details on a driver’s endorsements or disqualifications. This was made possible by building new datasets and a suite of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), replacing the older Driver Validation Service.
A main benefit of the new service is that courts can take our data into account during a court hearing by allowing Justice Clerks to check driving records in real-time. Recent figures show that more than 49,000 enquiries have been made to date, enabling courts to make accurate and informed decisions when issuing driving sanctions.
This leads us on to our DVSA services. In July 2021, we released a series of APIs to support their theory test booking service, helping DVSA ensure candidates have the correct and valid entitlement to take the relevant theory test. This confirms that the person attending the test is qualified to do so. The service has already handled more than 17 million enquiries.
Our second service, which has recently gone live, supports DVSA’s enforcement activities by allowing roadside examiners to instantly access our driver data, reducing the time required to carry out driving licence checks. The data can now be automatically transferred onto DVSA’s system, ensuring it is accurately recorded. Additionally, the service allows driving examiners to check the driving licence entitlements of candidates attending driving tests, helping to reduce test impersonations and driving test fraud.
These are great examples of cross-government working to support road safety and how we’re using our new strategic technology platforms to quickly build new enquiry services.
It’s a really exciting time for our strategic enquiries team as our platform continues to grow. We’re currently working closely with Keeper at Date of Event (KADOE) customers to discuss the replacement of the existing service. The new service will allow approved customers to request and receive registered keeper information for agreed permitted purposes through new technologies on our strategic enquiries platform.
We’re also working with the Department for Work and Pensions, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, and His Majesty’s Passport Office to see how our platform can meet their needs in the coming years.
Many organisations rely on DVLA data, so it’s right that we support the government’s digital and data strategy by making it easier to lawfully share this data safely and securely. It’s also important that we continue to ensure our services are based on newer, modern platforms that work better for our stakeholders and customers.
Keep an eye out on our blogs and social media for all the latest updates on our digital and customer transformation programme, Evolve.
]]>Today is Ada Lovelace Day - an annual international celebration of the achievements of women in STEM. To mark the day, we caught up with Karen Clark, Agile Delivery Manager, and Claire Barry, Technical Product Manager, to tell us about their experience of working in a digital profession.
Karen: I’m an Agile Delivery Manager, which involves actively building and promoting an Agile environment and approach to work, while ensuring my team has everything they need to succeed. Helping my team is what I enjoy the most – my job includes removing obstacles or ‘blockers’ to progress, helping the team to self-organise and creating a culture of learning and transparency.
Claire: I’m the Technical Product Manager for the Emerging Technology Lab. My role is responsible for the product strategy and involves working with our development squads to solve problems and implement changes. It has provided me the opportunity to collaborate with highly skilled, passionate, and creative people from across the organisation - I really enjoy working with them! We all work together to provide best in class digital services that meet the needs of our customers.
Karen: Not always; before moving into digital, I worked in a Capability & Talent role which ensured colleagues within the Digital, Data and Technology Profession (DDaT) had access to training and development opportunities.
There are many opportunities to move to different roles and you don’t always need a technology-related degree! I have a degree in business and a postgraduate degree in law and I was able to transfer a lot of skills gained throughout my career over to my current role. For example, part of a lawyer’s role is case management, which follows similar steps to that of managing a project - the only difference is the subject. I have found that the sector values people from diverse backgrounds, with transferable skills, and a motivation to work in technology.
In terms of training, there are endless opportunities to learn and develop at DVLA, so don’t hesitate to apply for a digital role! I have been able to continue my Agile development path, completing my professional scrum master and coaching qualifications. I have also expanded my technical knowledge using on demand learning provided by DVLA.
Claire: I’ve been in Product Management and Product Owner roles for 5 years. Prior to this, I worked in a variety of customer service and operational roles. I’ve worked in retail as a sales assistant, call centres and on to senior leadership positions. One thing that has remained consistent across all these roles is my passion for customer service and solving complex problems. Technology is a great enabler to provide solutions for these problems. There are so many transferrable skills that you gain across so many different aspects of your life.
Claire: The UK Technology Careers Event was aimed at female and non-binary students who are hoping to start a career in technology. It was a great opportunity for us to talk to students and provide them with information about the types of roles DVLA offers. It also gave the students a chance to connect with us and other potential employers.
Karen: Claire and I were delighted to be chosen to represent DVLA on the panel, sharing an insight into the work we do and our shared experiences of working in the digital sector. It was also fascinating to hear other women’s inspiring stories of how they overcame challenges to pursue their digital careers.
Claire: The opportunities in digital are so wide and vast - not every role requires coding, although there are lots of opportunities if that’s your passion. There are many transferrable skills such as problem solving, communication, facilitation, planning and prioritisation that will set you up for success. So don’t be afraid to try something different!
As technology takes forefront in our lives, it’s important that women are engaged and afforded the opportunity to shape decisions, while ensuring that the advancements made are representative of a diverse range of users.
Karen: It’s crucial that we encourage women to apply for digital careers, but it’s equally important that we make these careers accessible to all. My role provides me with a great work-life balance and flexibility. I’m proud to be part of an organisation where representation matters.
Lastly, we are both members of DVLA’s Digital Voices advocacy group, which believes strongly in opportunities for all and champions digital diversity at DVLA. We support colleagues who want to build their confidence, knowledge, and skills as well as those seeking a new career path.
If a digital career sounds interesting to you, why not join us at DVLA? Keep an eye out on Civil Service Jobs for all the latest career opportunities. You can also visit our Reed.com site or learn more about digital careers at DVLA.
]]>Our Year in Industry (YII) programme, part of our Centre of Digital Excellence (CoDE), is an innovative development opportunity offering university students a 12-month placement at the end of their second year of study to work within DVLA’s IT technical areas. The programme allows students to apply academic theory from their time at university into real work projects.
It’s a fantastic opportunity for students and DVLA; the students gain technical working experience in a fast-paced, cutting-edge IT department, and we learn from their skills in the latest emerging technologies and their different perspectives on IT. The scheme helps students develop their wider skills such as teamwork, resilience, communication and problem-solving with the programme also enhancing future employment opportunities.
The programme is available to students at all UK universities, with 24 students taking part in the programme since its launch in 2018, each gaining experience in various technical roles.
We recently caught up with Luke Clifton and Phoebe Alderman, students from the 2021 to 2022 YII cohort, who reflected on their YII journey at DVLA.
Luke: My name is Luke and I am a computer science student at Cardiff University and will be graduating in 2023. I developed an interest in programming at a young age when I would mess around on the computer with my dad. I have been with DVLA since August 2021, working on the Quality Engineering Team in IT Service Creation as a Software Engineer in Test (SDET).
Phoebe: My name is Phoebe and I study computer science at the University of Exeter. I have been with DVLA since August 2021, taking part in their Year in Industry programme whilst completing my placement year at university. I have been working with the Database Team in ITS but was able to gain two weeks experience in the Mountain Goat Team, one of the agile development teams, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Luke: There have been so many highlights! I’ve really loved getting to work alongside countless friendly and talented people on a number of projects. I’ve also enjoyed the huge variety of work that I have been assigned and being entrusted with testing and creating products that will be used by almost every household in the UK.
Phoebe: I really enjoyed building a cloud-based database health check to support my team. The project covered both software development and databases which gave me the opportunity to put into practice the skills I learnt at university, whilst giving me a taste of what development in industry is like.
Luke: Yes, absolutely. I wanted to understand more about how larger organisations operate, to put my coding knowledge to the test, and to feel that I had contributed to a project that was important and used by many people. I believe that in my short time at DVLA, I have achieved all of these goals and more.
Phoebe: Yes, I did. I would have loved to spend more time with the Agile Development Team so I could pick up more skills and really get to grips with industry level coding. However, I was able to further my databases knowledge and as a bonus, was able to test out my software development skills. Overall, I feel like I’ve surpassed my initial goals for my time here.
Luke: In September I will be returning to Cardiff to complete my third and final year of university. After that, I’m not too sure yet but I know that the knowledge and skills I have gained during my year in industry will be fundamental in my professional development.
Phoebe: Next up for me is my final year at Exeter University, where I will be doing a dissertation on diagnosing colorectal cancer from histopathology images using image recognition and machine learning. This year in industry has made me eager to get the ball rolling on my final year and apply both the hard and soft skills I have picked up here to my next academic year.
Luke: It’ll be the people that I have had the pleasure of working with over the course of this placement as well as working with DVLA’s state-of-the-art IT equipment.
Phoebe: Learning new skills from the talented IT professionals at the agency and the friendly faces at DVLA!
Here at DVLA, we’re proud to be a dynamic, digital organisation. We believe that it’s vital to invest in the development and skills of our people to grow and inspire the next generation of IT professionals.
We are excited to welcome the 2022 to 2023 cohort of 4 new Year in Industry students later this month, 3 of which are computer science students and we’ll be welcoming our first digital communications student.
If you’re interested in kickstarting your digital career at DVLA, you can find out more about the Year in Industry programme and the various development programmes our ITS department has to offer here.
Follow DVLA on Twitter, follow us on Facebook and connect with us on LinkedIn. You can also subscribe to our Inside DVLA blog and our YouTube channel.
Our digital and technology focus supports our Driving Change 3-year strategic plan and aims to accelerate our digital transformation plans to develop an agile technology and services platform. This will enable DVLA to pivot and respond quickly to changing customer and employee needs and future technology advances.
Let me give you an update on what we’ve done so far…
A big part of our digital transformation programme is Evolve; our 5-year strategic technology programme launched in 2020. Our aim is to radically transform how customers use our services and transact with us using an agile and iterative delivery approach, utilising our main strategic tenets, API enabled cloud native services development, and cloud first platform provisioning to move away from our legacy technology estate. This transformation creates a scalable, secure, and sustainable platform, enabling us to reduce the time, complexity, and cost of developing and deploying new customer services and business capabilities
We’re already seeing the benefits of this approach, using our in-house cloud skills, responsive technology patterns and agile working. Our digital change of address on your vehicle log book (V5C) service took only 6 weeks to develop during the pandemic - previously it would have taken at least 6 months. This was quickly followed by the launch of our online duplicate log book (V5C) service in just 12 weeks, again during the most challenging of times.
In March 2020, we launched a new application programme interface (API) developer portal and our first API to our vehicle enquiry service on GOV.UK. This was fundamental in supporting the Vehicle Enquiries Service API roll-out on GOV.UK and allows us to use the API portal for any of our online services in future.
Our new fast online tachograph service for drivers is the first end-to-end service we’ve transformed to digital, migrating off our legacy estate, onto a new cloud-based architecture and data store. This means that lorry and bus drivers can apply and pay online, making the process much quicker and easier than ever before. It’s been a real success, with positive feedback from customers and online take up over 90%. This has paved the way for future services to move on to cloud technology, so we won’t have to start from the beginning every time.
We’ve enhanced our ‘apply for your first provisional drivers licence’ online service to enable drivers to upload their photograph and signature online for the first time, speeding up the time it takes to process applications where the signature is not held by the Passport Office. This was a significant milestone in our ongoing transformation programme, with more than 460,000 customers using the service since its launch.
Working together with other government departments and organisations is critical to the success of the services we provide. We’ve created a new strategic enquiries platform which provides our stakeholders, commercial customers, and suppliers timely and secure information from our databases. We’re also developing a suite of re-usable APIs (to hold secure information) to support businesses and the wider transformation of public services. This has meant quick and easy access for businesses and other government departments who have permission to receive information from our databases.
Through these API strategic enquiry platforms, we’ve been able to:
Over the coming year, we’ll be working on a brand new Customer Account, currently in private beta, to allow you to access your driver and vehicle information all in one place. We’ll also be introducing the option for you to receive a digital vehicle tax reminder through the account. This is a new way for customers to use and experience our services and increasingly digitally self-serve. Our aim is to offer most of our services through this account in the future.
We’re also exploring the use of new technology to automate some processes when dealing with medical applications. Our recent pilot, where we used a Customer Relationship Management tool for drivers notifying us for the first time that they have diabetes, enhances our service by making it quicker for customers. Our next step will be to extend the use of the platform to include driving licence renewals from drivers with diabetes.
As part of Evolve, we’re also working on the introduction of a digital driving licence. We’re gathering customer and industry insight to understand how a digital driving licence will work alongside the physical cards. It’s early in our discovery but a very exciting time to be exploring the introduction of GBs digital driving licences.
Our transformation work is accelerating, and we’ll shortly be starting our vehicles transformation programme. It’s still in the early stages and means our digital transformation programmes will cover all DVLA’s services and its technology landscape, but I know we have the skills, capability, and passion to see this through as one of the leading digital departments in government.
Our people are the cornerstone of our success now and in the future, and our vison is to be renowned as a Centre of Digital Excellence for the services we build and as a leader in the region, inspiring and attracting the next generation of digital and technology talent. We provide the latest training and professional certifications for our employees alongside our talent pipeline programmes, which include Ethical Hacking and degree apprenticeships in Cyber Security, Software Engineering and Data Science. Alongside this, and as a Centre of Digital Excellence, we’ve designed our own academies in Cloud and Software Development Engineering in Test (SDET) which is the first of its kind. We also invest in the digital skills of our community through our science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) volunteer programme.
It’s a very exciting time here at DVLA, and being a dynamic, digital organisation means we’re committed to improving our services to ensure they’re even more flexible, responsive and fit for a changing future.
Keep an eye on our blogs and our social media channels linked below to hear about the future of our digital transformation programme. If you’re interested in joining us at DVLA, you can find out more about our digital careers or visit Civil Service Jobs for our latest vacancies.
Follow DVLA on Twitter, Facebook and on LinkedIn. You can also subscribe to our Inside DVLA blog.
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