The DVSA, (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) will be hit by strike action again in February amid an ongoing dispute over pay and conditions between the agency and driving examiners. Members of the PCS Union employed by the DVSA voted in December in favour of action, citing the newly required weekend working as the cause of the walkout.
The examiners complain that they lack support if things go wrong when working Saturdays and Sundays. According to the union, weekend working is unsafe in their role.
All newly employed examiners are taken on with a contract that requires some weekend working each month. Examiners in post before the change in contracts only work weekends as voluntary overtime.
The DVSA has been informed by the union that strike action will take place on the 8th & 9th of February where all PCS Union members will be eligible to walk out. Additional action for newer examiners will take place on the 10th and 11th February.
Effects on DVSA Customers
The strike action will likely affect all DVSA Driving Test Centres during the four days of action. Where examiners are striking, the tests assigned to them will need to be cancelled and rescheduled. Unfortunately, the DVSA will not know in advance which examiners are taking part in the strike action.
Not all examiners are eligible to strike; only members of the PCS Union can walk out during the planned action. Members of the union may also choose not to walk out on any or all of the days that strike action is planned.
When a striker confirms they are not working on a strike day the DVSA will then be able to inform affected test candidates. This does mean that if you have a test on the strike days you may not find out that your appointment has been cancelled until just before the test is due to start.
The DVSA will cancel some tests in advance as a precaution, so you may receive an email ahead of time cancelling your appointment.
If the action does affect your driving test, the DVSA will automatically rebook for the next available appointment. If this isn’t a doable date for you, you can contact DVSA Customer Services on 0300 200 1122 and reschedule it, even if it’s within the usual 3 working day notice period.
Compensation Claims to DVSA
If your test is cancelled with less than 3 clear working days notice you can claim compensation from the DVSA. The DVSA do not count Sundays or Bank Holidays as working days.
In this case, if the strike action on Thursday 8th February cancels your driving test and the DVSA don’t inform you by the end of Saturday 3rd February, you can claim back out of pocket expenses. You need to fill out this form: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65817f9123b70a0013234bc2/apply-cancelled-driving-test-expenses.pdf
You can claim:
You cannot claim:
