Plaid call for step up in Welsh Government and Swansea Council DVLA COVID Investigations

Dr Dai Lloyd Plaid Cymru Member of the Senedd for South Wales West has today (26th January) called on Swansea Council and the Welsh Government to step up investigations into working practices and Covid safeguarding measures at Swansea’s DVLA.

Dr. Lloyd has submitted an Urgent Question to the First Minister, Mark Drakeford, which he hopes to be able to ask at the Senedd tomorrow (Wednesday, January 27th). Dr. Lloyd has also submitted a Statement of Opinion at the Senedd, expressing disappointment at the current situation at the DVLA.

Dr. Lloyd has written to Swansea Council this week - the fourth separate occasion that Dr Lloyd has raised the issue of safety in the DVLA with the authorities responsible since March 2020, yet workers still feel unsafe in their place of work. Over 500 people working in the DVLA have contracted Coronavirus, which the PCS union describes as a “scandal.”

Dr Lloyd stated,

“The current situation at the DVLA is inexcusable. I have written to Swansea Council as the Local Authority responsible for ensuring workplaces adhere to COVID-19 regulations. I have already written directly to the DVLA on numerous occasions over the past few months as many people employed by the DVLA simply do not feel safe when they go to work.

“I am also calling on the Welsh Government to play its part in an urgent investigation of COVID safeguarding measures in place at the DVLA. Despite the DVLA being a UK Government department, they are operating in Wales and as such the Welsh Government must ensure that they are working in line with our rules and regulations.”

Dr Lloyd added,

“It’s clear the DVLA aren’t taking the issue of COIVD safe work spaces seriously enough, as has been made clear in the number of times I have raised the concerns of my constituents. We are now in a situation where the fear of having to go to work and potentially contracting coronavirus is having a detrimental impact on many people’s mental health. The UK Gove

rnment must work with both the Welsh Government and Swansea Council to ensure measures are implemented that make the DVLA’s office is a safe working environment.

“The situation at the DVLA is not supporting our attempts in Swansea to reduce community transmission of the disease.”