Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency FOI D16 DVLA Longview Road Swansea SA6 7JL. Mr Richard Dicey.

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Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency FOI D16 DVLA Longview Road Swansea SA6 7JL Mr Richard Dicey Request-38493-1bee541f@whatdotheyknow.com Telephone Fax Email Website foi@dvla.gsi.gov.uk www.direct.

Information Act 2000 (FOIA). In your email you asked multiple questions concerning the scope of the services under the contract between DVLA and the Post Office.

A In respect of the original contract between DVLA and the Post Office which included, amongst other things, the "check and send service in respect of driving licences, please provide the following

1 Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency FOI D16 DVLA Longview Road Swansea SA6 7JL Mr Richard Dicey Telephone Fax Website Your Ref Our Ref FOIR 1996/10 Date: 3 August 2010 Dear Mr Dicey, Thank you for your request which was received on 18 June 2010 and which I am dealing with under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). In your you asked multiple questions concerning the scope of the services under the contract between DVLA and the Post Office. I have responded to your questions in the order they were asked. A In respect of the original contract between DVLA and the Post Office which included, amongst other things, the "check and send service in respect of driving licences, please provide the following information:- 1. The scope of the services under that original contract; The Vehicle Relicensing and Other Services Agreement between the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and the Post Office (Post Office Limited) dated 31 March 2008 commenced on 1 April 2007 for a term until 31 March 2013 (the Contract). There was no option to extend the term but the parties agreed to review the Contract on 1 April 2012 and discuss extension or renegotiation of the Contract. The Contract provided for the Post Office, using Post Office branches in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, to provide a face to face customer service channel for vehicle relicensing transactions (currently 4,750 branches for the payment of vehicle excise duty and issue of tax discs or the giving of Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN)) and a check and send service for first and photocard applications for driving licences (750 branches). It also made provision for ancillary and other services relating to the forwarding of postal relicensing applications, the management and stocking of DVLA Page 1 of 6

2 forms and information at Post Office branches, the handling of tax discs, return to drawer facilities and account reconciliation. 2. The term of the contract (start date, end date, together details of any option to extend the term); and See answer to question The variation clause within that original contact (if any) allowing the scope of services under that original contract to be varied. In Schedule 10 to the Contract the parties indicated they were likely to work jointly on certain development opportunities which included driving licence application enhancements. Clause 11 of the Contract provided that where systems, procedural or product changes which related to the services or transactions provided under the Contract were introduced by a party they would be implemented to specifications and timescales agreed by both parties. Schedule 14 to the Contract sets out Change Control procedures to be followed when a change to the scope of services or transactions under the Contract is required, with the effect that when a Change Request is approved and signed by the parties under the Schedule it constitutes an amendment to the Contract under clause 38, which provides that a variation to the Contract is only binding if it is in writing, refers specifically to the Contract and is signed by a duly authorised representative of both parties. B In relation to the additional services which is now being offered by the Post Office, whereby in addition to the original "check and send" service, the Post Office is now also able to directly take photographs and send them, along with the application form for a driving licence electronically to the DVLA, please provide the following information:- 1. When was this additional service awarded by the DVLA to the Post Office? A check and send service (also known as an Application, Enrolment and Identity Service) for applications to renew photo-card driving licences after 10 years (TYR service), was agreed as a variation to the Contract on 4 March 2009 by acceptance of a Change Control notice dated 29 January As for other driving licence applications, the TYR service has stages of: face to face validation of the applicant s identity, clerk input of any data changes (and validation of changes by the clerk), signature capture, receipt of payment for the transaction and licence renewal, but with the service including image capture with validation by the clerk that the image is of an acceptable standard to the Agency (rather than checking of the applicant s photo) and electronic transmission of the photo and file through accredited secure channels to DVLA rather than sending it manually. The variation also provided, subject to ministerial approval, for a paper licence recall during the term of the Contract. They are referred to as the New Services under the variation. Page 2 of 6

3 2. Was this additional service awarded by the DVLA to the Post Office: a. by entering into a new contract; or b. by amending the existing contract. See answer to question If it was done by way of a new contract, please provide the following information: a. The scope of the services under the new contract; b. The term of the new contract (start date, end date, together details of any option to extend the term); c. The expected value of the new contract to the Post Office; and d. The contract award procedure used by the DVLA including a copy of the contract award notice (if any). It was not done by way of a new contract. 4. If done by way of a variation to the existing contract, please provide the following information: The scope of the services under the contract, as varied: a. The term of the contract as varied (start date, end date, together details of any option to extend the term); b. Details of any other term of the contract which was varied. See answer to question 1. The term for the original services was unchanged but the term for provision of the New Services was for a period ending 5 years after the commencement of the first provision of the TYR service on 1 April 2010 (i.e. 31 March 2015). The New Services were subject to an option allowing for extension by DVLA for a further period of 2 or 3 years. The variation dated 4 March 2009 provided, in accordance with the Change Control Notice, for the inclusion in the text of the Contract of the effect of earlier Change Control agreements for the closure of Luton Local Office, the adding of form and leaflet checks to the Mystery Shopping Exercise and Electronic Budget update and for the incorporation of provisions relating to the parties intention to conclude commercial arrangements for the provision of similar services to UK Border Agency and Identity and Passport Service, subject to contract. There were other changes applicable to the New Services which included more onerous provisions for data protection to reflect Office of Government Commerce guidance, provision for specific service credits for the New Services, limitation of liability clauses relevant to the New Services and rollout requirements for the New Page 3 of 6

4 Services. There were also provisions for benefit sharing and recovery of initial investment costs in relation to New Services. 5. Please provide all documents setting out the basis on which the decision was made to enter into a new contract/vary the existing contract with the Post Office in the manner in which the contract was entered into/varied. I can confirm that the Agency holds the information falling within the description specified in your request. However, some information is being withheld under section 43(2) of the FOIA as its release is likely to prejudice the commercial interests of both DVLA and the Post Office, and also under section 42 of the FOIA where legal professional privilege applies. In applying these exemptions we have had to balance the public interest in withholding the information against the public interest in disclosure and the attached annex sets out the exemptions in full and why the public interest test favours withholding the information. However, I can confirm that the decision to vary the existing contract with the Post Office came out of the work of a DVLA Ten Year Renewal (TYR) project for the implementation of improved channels to process a projected 2 3 million photo card driving licence renewal applications annually from May 2009 following expiry of their 10 year life-span. To complement the channel of direct application to DVLA, DVLA determined the need for an intermediate supplier to provide a service to UK customers around a face to face application providing the following: The capture of payment, issue of receipt and reconciliation of finances with DVLA; The scanning and keying of application data; Undertaking checks; Capture photo of the application; The forwarding of the application and photo to DVLA via an electronic data file; The flagging of validity concerns and, where appropriate, forwarding of such documents to DVLA. DVLA further considered that an intermediary would need to procure the IT requirements and solution by open competition. DVLA concluded on analysis that the services required by the project were Part B services within the meaning of the consolidated Directive 2004/18/EC and did not require a full procurement under the Public Contract Regulations In addition, DVLA carried out an assessment, in compliance with its Treaty obligations and guidance issued by the Commission, which focused on certain core requirements identified as of major significance for the determination of a supplier. Page 4 of 6

5 6. Please confirm whether the DVLA is paying the Post Office for the new services (taking photographs and sending them electronically to the DVLA). DVLA agreed to pay the Post Office for the TYR service (which is not simply a service to take photographs and send them electronically). 7. If the answer to request 6 is "yes", how much is the DVLA paying to the Post Office in respect of those new services? I can confirm that the Agency holds the information falling within the description specified in your request. Under section 43(2) of the FOIA, certain information is being withheld as its release is likely to prejudice the commercial interests of both DVLA and the Post Office and I refer you to the attached public interest test decision. However, the payment to the Post Office is consistent with the payment made by the Agency for its service pre-enhancement, taking into account additional efficiencies achieved by the Agency through receiving applications electronically. It is expected by DVLA that over a fully extended period from 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2018 the Post Office will receive 20 million from DVLA for these services. The expected value of the contract with the variation for the TYR AEI service (including all extensions possible to the contract) is 260m compared to 204m prior to variation. The unit cost to the Agency is variable and reduces as volumes increase. The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act You are free to use it for your own purposes, including any noncommercial research you are doing and for the purposes of news reporting. Any other reuse, for example commercial publication, would require the permission of the copyright holder. Most documents supplied by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency will have been produced by government officials and will be Crown Copyright. You can find details on the arrangements for re-using Crown copyright on the Office of Public Sector Information website at: If you are unhappy with the decisions made by this Agency in relation to your request, you may ask for an internal review. If you wish to complain, you should write to FOI team, D16, DVLA, Longview Road, Morriston, Swansea, SA6 7JL, or by , foi@dvla.gsi.gov.uk If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Please see attached details of the complaints procedure and your right to complain to the Information Commissioner. If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please remember to quote the reference above in any future communications. Page 5 of 6

6 Yours sincerely Paul Jeffreys Head of Data Sharing/FOI Team D16 Page 6 of 6

I am writing to confirm that Ofcom has now completed its search of relevant documents falling within your request.

I am writing to confirm that Ofcom has now completed its search of relevant documents falling within your request. Reference: 461246 24 November 2017: Julia Snape Information requests information.requests@ofcom.org.uk Freedom of Information: Right to know request Dear Thank you for your request for information dated