Final day for motor tax office in Downpatrick

Final day for motor tax office in Downpatrick

16 July 2014

TOMORROW marks the end of an era with the closure of the Driver and Vehicle Agency’s office at Rathkeltair House in Downpatrick.

The shutters will be pulled for the final time tomorrow afternoon with services transferred to Swansea as part of a major centralisation drive resulting in the loss of over 300 Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) jobs across the Province and the closure of all motor tax offices.

Staff at the Downpatrick office dealt with a range of motor taxation and licensing issues and there are concerns that the closure of the Rathkeltair House facility will impact on a wide group of people.

DVA staff are particularly concerned at the impact the closure will have on the elderly and local motor dealers who will lose face-to-face contact and help with a range of enquiries.

Councillor Dermot Curran has expressed concern at the loss of such a “valuable service.” He said the closure of the DVA office represents a blow for the town, with people who traditionally taxed their vehicles at Rathkeltair House now having to do so at the Post Office or on line.

“It is very disappointing that more public sector jobs are being lost in Downpatrick. This was an extremely well used service and its closure will impact on the wider public,” he added.

Ahead of tomorrow’s closure, the Department of Environment has outlined how local people can tax their vehicles. Motorists are being advised that from July 21, people who wish to tax or register vehicles must do this online at www.gov.uk/taxdisc or at a post office.

From July 21, all vehicle licensing will be delivered by the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in Swansea. Anyone in Down District wishing to tax a vehicle this Friday, July 18, will need to go to the Post Office as DVA staff in Downpatrick will be involved in the hand over of services to their counterparts in Wales.

DVA chief executive, Paul Duffy, said it’s important anyone seeking to tax their vehicle knows exactly how the new system will work. He said the change over to a new system should be as smooth as possible for local motorists.

“DVA staff have provided a first class service to motorists here and have set a very high standard for the DVLA in Swansea to follow when it takes over full responsibility for all vehicle licensing services from July 21,” he added.

Driver licensing, driver and vehicle testing, bus and taxi licensing services, in tandem with roadside compliance checks, are not affected by the transfer of vehicle licensing services to Swansea.

The identity checking service for first time applicants for provisional driving licences currently provided at motor tax offices, will be available from July 21 at Driver Licensing headquarters at County Hall in Coleraine and at the Downpatrick MoT centre in Downpatrick.

Access to the DVLA’s online vehicle tax service will allow motorists to tax a vehicle or declare it off the road 24 hours a day, seven days a week by logging on at www.gov.uk/taxdisc.

Local motorists can also buy NI and GB personalised registration numbers through DVLA’s personalised registration sales scheme available at www.dvlaregistrations.direct.gov.uk.