Diversity Matters at the DVLA

Equality and Diversity

The DVLA is committed to implementing the government's policies on diversity and equality.
The promotion of equality and diversity principles are incorporated into delivering inclusive services accessible for staff, customers and the general public. These diversity arrangements clearly show our responsibilities.

DVLA want to help customers comply with the road safety regulations making sure our records are correct. To do this we must ensure our services and information are as accessible as possible, with flexibility to provide ongoing improved customer service as a digital service provider.

Chief Executive Oliver Morley has overall responsibility and accountability for these arrangements. He has appointed HR Director Phil Bushby as Diversity Champion at DVLA. He is supported by a Diversity Action Group made up of board members and senior managers from the business. DVLA has a dedicated Staff and Customer Diversity team to support diversity actions and provide these arrangements.

Accreditations and engagement
The following accreditations have been held for some time and demonstrate DVLA’s commitment to improving staff well-being and engagement and supporting excellent customer service.

Investors in People (IiP)
Investors in People (IiP) is a flexible easy to use management standard which helps organisations achieve the business objectives by developing the skills of their staff. DVLA has held this award for over ten years.

Customer Service Excellence
The Customer Service Excellence standard was built on the legacy of Charter Mark. It was developed by the government to offer public services a practical tool for driving customer-focused change within their organisation. Between the two DVLA has consecutively held the standard for the last 19 years.

Positive about disabled people - ‘two ticks’
DVLA has held the ‘two ticks’ disability symbol which is awarded by Job Centre Plus since it was introduced. This symbol is presented to employers who have made commitments to employ, keep and develop the abilities of disabled staff.

Accessibility
Most of our information can be provided in other formats on request.

Corporate diversity objectives
There is a legal requirement for organisations to evidence that they are meeting their public sector equality duties under the Equality Act 2010. This duty is made up of general duties supported by specific duties. The development and delivery against these objectives are a way of demonstrating that the requirement is being met. DVLA will deliver against their own and DfT objectives.

Purpose and development
The purpose of setting specific, measurable equality objectives is to help to better perform the general equality duty, focusing on the desired outcomes. Equality objectives help focus attention on the priority equality issues within an organisation in order to deliver improvements in policy making, service delivery and employment, including resource allocation. The DVLA corporate diversity objectives explain:

what DVLA will do
the aim of the objective
the expected outcomes
why we are doing this– evidence of key issues
how this objective will be met
how progress and achievement of outcomes will be measured
The diversity objectives will be reviewed every four years or more frequently if needed. Additional objectives will be set as and when required to ensure that continued compliance with the Equality Act 2010 is achieved.

Consultation and engagement

One of the key elements of developing diversity objectives is consultation with stakeholder groups and staff and customer feedback. Consultation is ongoing to help DVLA gain continued understanding of differing needs of our customers and staff, ensuring the provision of improved customer service.

The consultation process includes:

Reviewing staff and disability surveys
Working with staff networking groups and local trade union
Working with EHRC Wales and other organisations in public and voluntary sector
Engaging with the community
Equality analysis

DVLA staff are provided with guidance and an equality analysis toolkit to help understand what is needed and why. The guidance explains that equality analysis assessments should be completed when a policy, process or practice is introduced or changed. This includes business plans, efficiency proposals and staff restructures.

DVLA publish completed equality impact assessment reports internally or externally as appropriate. The current reports on the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency compliance with the Equality Duty.

See also, Department for Transport’s compliance with the Equality Duty

We collect and publish data on:

Recruitment and retention, promotion, training opportunities, grievance and disciplinary actions for each of the protected groups
Male and female employees, including data on job roles, pay and grading, contract type and working pattern
‘Unknown’ or ‘prefer not to say’ categories
Customer survey information and usability analysis including complaints
Equality analysis assessment information
Staff surveys
Delivery of diversity arrangements
The processes, information and documents below form the delivery of DVLA’s diversity Arrangements. They are the tools with which we will deliver and evidence our compliance with the equality duties.

A diversity strategy outlining key considerations
Process map of diversity deliverables
Equality analysis guidance and templates
A dedicated internal diversity@DVLA website to provide information for staff
A bi-annual diversity audit to assess robustness of diversity processes
An annual progress report on how we have delivered on diversity
The annual staff monitoring report
A diversity action group led by our CEO and Diversity Champion oversees the diversity arrangements
A diversity activities and communication plan

Are you interested in a career with the DVLA? Click here to apply for vacancies!