Petition against the removal of DVLA services from Northern Ireland Post Offices now reaches over 7,000 signatures online

A petition by The National Federation of SubPostmasters (NFSP) and Retail NI calling on the government to reverse their decision to remove DVLA services from the Post Office network in the UK has received over 7,000 signatures online.

From March 3 2024, DVLA services have not been extended at Post Offices in the UK, something that will impact six million customers, including thousands in Northern Ireland.

In response postmasters have warned that removing more face-to-face transactions will negatively impact the vulnerable and digitally excluded customers whilst also jeopardising the livelihood of 50,000 full-time equivalent employees who work in the post offices around the UK.

In Northern Ireland, there are up to 500 PO branches with approximately over 40,000 DVLA transactions at post office counters per month. Total customer numbers per month are estimated to be around 350,000 - 400,000.

Jim McCafferty, non-executive director for Northern Ireland, said: “I think the DVLA withdrawal is unfair to our customers as many of them visit our branch purposefully to pay their Road Fund Licence (Car Tax) with cash - it is their preferred method of payment. I believe the government decision to provide this service online only is to the detriment of communities across the country and further weakens the financial position of beleaguered subpostmasters.”

Retail NI chief executive Glyn Roberts, agreed: “Post Offices should be getting more government services, not less. They are an invaluable footfall driver for our members, local high streets, and a vital community service. We urge the government to rethink this immediately and start investing in our local Post Offices.”

Local postmaster Jim Moan, who owns Howard Street Post Office in Belfast, added: "The government promised us more work, not less and less, they are crippling the whole network of post offices. My customers are not happy with this decision. This is just another nail in the coffin, my business was already struggling, and the removal of another service is the last straw - we must make a stand.”

In response to the government’s decision, the NFSP have set out a campaign to raise awareness of this campaign and a petition to collect signatures called ‘Prevent Government from removing DVLA services from the post office from April 2024’.

The petition already has 7,048 online with thousands more signatures being physically signed in local Post Offices.

The NFSP hope to present a significant amount of signatures, in excess of 10,000, to government and MPs on November 1 so the issue can be debated in Parliament and presented at Downing Street to persuade them to reverse their decision.

Members of the public are urged to continued to sign the online petition but the NFSP are also encouraging their customers to go into their local post office and physically sign an offline petition. This will support their local post office and protect this vital community service.

Last year, the network earned over £3m from providing DVLA services so at a time when there is a cost-of-living crisis, the loss of the DVLA income will hit Postmasters hard along with their ability to continue to employ staff.

A DVLA spokesperson, added: “The Post Office currently provide a limited range of DVLA’s services and an extension to the current contract has recently 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.”