DVLA: Young people to miss out if services scrapped from post offices

DVLA services could be removed from post offices next year

Young people are going to miss out as much as the elderly if changes to in-person DVLA services at post offices go ahead, a local postmaster has warned.

Guisborough postmaster Sue Edgar was part of a group which handed in a 100,000-signature petition to 10 Downing Street on Thursday.

It calls on the government to save the services, which are currently set to end in March next year.

The Post Office said it was in talks with the DVLA over the plans.

The changes will see DVLA services removed from Post Offices from 31 March 2024 - meaning people will no longer be able to apply for a licence or tax their car at a branch.

Services will continue to be available online, but Ms Edgar said they were "absolutely" in demand at the post office.

The DVLA said it was continuing to consider the role of counter services after the current contract with the Post Office ends in March.

'Another stab in the back'

There are concerns the changes could put the future of some post office branches at risk, and impact customers.

Speaking from Downing Street after handing the petition in, Ms Edgar said: "It's not just for me and my local community, it's for every post office in the land, because we're all under threat, with government services being taken away one by one.

"And this is another one, another stab in the back."

Sue Edgar was part of the group who handed in the petition to 10 Downing Street

She had previously told BBC Radio Tees: "People are always saying it's the elderly, the vulnerable that are going to miss out, but it isn't.

"It's the young people as well.

"Yes, they do online but if they have a problem, they close it down and they come to the post office.

"Then there's the people who prefer to use cash."

The petition was handed in on Thursday

It has also been signed by Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland Conservative MP Sir Simon Clarke.

He told BBC Radio Tees the post office was "more than just somewhere you send letters and parcels".

"It is now, in many ways, the hub of so many key services, at a time when, as Sue says, banks are leaving communities and when people rely on the post office for lots of over-the-counter services that they would previously have gone to their bank for," he said.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is Ms Edgar's constituency MP, has raised the issue with the Department for Transport and requested a formal ministerial response, his constituency office confirmed.

A DVLA spokesperson said: "The Post Office currently provide a limited range of DVLA's services and an extension to the current contract has been agreed until 31 March 2024.

"We want our customers to be able to access our services as quickly and as easily as possible, and the role of front office counter services will form part of the considerations of any future service offerings."

The Post Office said: "We know that the trading environment is incredibly tough for many postmasters.

"We are committed to finding ways to support postmasters so they can continue to provide important services for local communities through the wide range of services that we offer and continue to expand."