An undercover investigation of backlogs at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency by our sister paper The Times has revealed a cultural form of long Covid in the public sector. A reporter found that 3,400 people — almost half the staff — were put on paid special leave during the pandemic, with no requirement to work, because they were deemed vulnerable. Many who did work from home were not allowed remote access to systems containing licence-holders’ information.
In the past year DVLA staff have gone on strike for 58 days, citing Covid safety concerns. Under pressure from the Public and Commercial Services Union, only 2,000 have been at the offices in Swansea on any given day. As of last month strict coronavirus restrictions were still in place. In normal times the agency has about 400,000 driving licence applications and renewals being processed. The backlog now stands at 945,000.
Sadly, this is not an isolated story. As recently as January, the biggest teaching union — the National Education Union — told members to ignore government guidance and enforce tighter Covid rules in schools. Last year a Foreign Office whistleblower claimed that staff shortages were exacerbated by home working, hampering the processing of refugee applications after Afghanistan fell to the Taliban.
It is difficult to avoid the impression that when other people’s money is paying wages, the urge to reinstate normal working patterns is weaker. Taxpayers are tired of automated phone messages informing them of unprecedented call volumes and long waiting times. Covid must no longer be used as a catch-all excuse to cover up unacceptable standards of service.
