Driver demerit points and driver suspension history request processing times.
Mark Williams made this Official Information request to New Zealand Transport Agency
The request was successful.
From: Mark Williams
Dear New Zealand Transport Agency,
I am writing to enquire about the processing times and priority afforded to third-party requests for driver demerit points and driver suspension histories.
We have used (and paid) for this service for over 15 years to assure ourselves that applicants for employment who will be driving company vehicles do not have so many driver demerit points that they may be suspended from driving on the verge of being suspended from driving if they commit one further driving offence and consequently unable to perform the job they could be employed for because they have been suspended from driving.
Over the last two years we have observed a very significant decline in the turnaround time from the NZTA of these requests, which we pay for, reaching out currently, to almost two weeks. This is quite unsatisfactory for us and also the applicant for employment as we will not employ them without knowing their demerit points and suspension history.
In recent months we have noticed that replies to request for demerit points and suspension histories now come from staff employed in your Debt Management Office, which seems curious to us as it appears to be outside the scope of their duties as Debt Management Officers.
Please could you explain why a Debt Management Officer is responsible for responding to third-party requests for driver demerit points and driver suspension histories and in terms of priority, where their responding to these requests fits into their working day (i.e. are they instructed to treat driver demerit points and driver suspension history requests with a lower priority to their other duties?).
Would you please be so kind as to also provide the following information:
1. How many requests for demerit points and driver suspension histories has NZTA received in the last 12 months?
2. In the last six months, and the six months before that, what is the average turnaround time (in whole working-days), for completing these requests? Please separate the average turnaround time for the first six months and second six months, for comparison purposes.
3. Is any company, organisation or Government agency given priority with their requests above any other third-party requester? If yes, please identity all organisations and elaborate on why they are given priority and whether they pay for the service, or pay a premium for having their requests treated with priority.
4. What income in the last 12 months has NZTA received for providing the driver demerit points and driver suspension history service?
5. What has been the direct cost to NZTA in providing this service in the last 12 months? Please do not include any other duties staff providing this service might undertake, such as "debt management" or requests from members of the public about the status of their own demerit points.
6. How many NZTA staff are employed in providing this service and how many hours per day, on average, does each employee spend on attending to third-party requests for driver demerit points and driver suspension histories.
7. For the NZTA staff who provide this service, what other duties do they perform and how are they instructed to prioritise third-party requests for demerit points and driver suspension histories, in comparison to their other duties?
8. What is the direct dial telephone number to speak with an NZTA employee specifically responsible for processing third-party requests for demerit points and driver suspension histories in circumstances where a request is long outstanding? Please do not give us the NZTA 0800 number as from repeated experience your call center staff have no idea who to put us through to, or the call is disconnected.
9. What is the direct e-mail address for us to send follow-up requests regarding out-standing third-party requests for demerit points and driver suspension histories? Please do not provide the email address [email address] as in the past we have embedded "read receipt" coding in emails sent to that address and found that emails may not be read for up to two weeks.
10. Because we have embedded "read receipt" requests in our requests in recent months on account of the poor turnaround we have become aware that our requests to the NZTA email address [email address] will sit there for up to two weeks, before being read. Given you are charging for this service, could you please explain why you are not assigning sufficient staff to process these requests in a more timely manner?
The reason for my submitting this OIA is that we believe the NZTA is providing a very poor service to employers requesting driver demerit points and driver suspension histories. NZTA charges $9.65+GST for every driver demerit points and driver suspension history request and mostly takes upwards of two weeks to respond. In contrast, the Ministry of Justice process third-party request for criminal record histories in about 72 hours, and charge less than the NZTA does for an almost two week wait for driver demerit point and driver suspension history request. I would appreciate your comments on this obvious disparity and what you intend to do to improve your current turnaround time.
If you offered a free service I would have no grounds to complain, but the NZTA charges for this service so it not unreasonable to expect you to account for the poor quality of the service now being provided in contrast to previous years. What has changed?
Yours faithfully,
Mark Williams
From: Official Correspondence
New Zealand Transport Agency
Dear Mark
This email acknowledges your below request for information made under the
Official Information Act 1982.
Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate section of Waka Kotahi
NZ Transport Agency for response. They will contact you if they require
clarification of your request, more time to respond, or if your request
has been transferred to another organisation to respond to. Unless more
time is required, Waka Kotahi will send a response to you within 20
working days of receiving your request – in this instance on or before 31
January 2022. As per the Ombudsman’s calendar, the Summer holidays (25
December to 15 January) and the Day after New Year's Day (2 January 2022)
are taken into account in calculating this.
The information you have requested may contain the names and contact
details of our staff. Please let us know whether you require these names
and contact details. We may need to consult our staff before deciding
whether we can release this information, and this may take a bit more
time. If we do not hear from you we will assume that you do not require
staff names and contact details.
If you would like to discuss your request with Waka Kotahi, please contact
us by email at [1][email address].
Regards
Ministerial Services
Te Waka Kôtuia | Engagement & Partnerships
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency
[2]twitter | [3]youtube | [4]facebook
[5][IMG]
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Williams <[FOI #17927 email]>
Sent: Monday, 13 December 2021 12:37 am
To: Official Correspondence <[NZTA request email]>
Subject: Official Information request - Driver demerit points and driver
suspension history request processing times.
Dear New Zealand Transport Agency,
I am writing to enquire about the processing times and priority afforded
to third-party requests for driver demerit points and driver suspension
histories.
We have used (and paid) for this service for over 15 years to assure
ourselves that applicants for employment who will be driving company
vehicles do not have so many driver demerit points that they may be
suspended from driving on the verge of being suspended from driving if
they commit one further driving offence and consequently unable to perform
the job they could be employed for because they have been suspended from
driving.
Over the last two years we have observed a very significant decline in the
turnaround time from the NZTA of these requests, which we pay for,
reaching out currently, to almost two weeks. This is quite unsatisfactory
for us and also the applicant for employment as we will not employ them
without knowing their demerit points and suspension history.
In recent months we have noticed that replies to request for demerit
points and suspension histories now come from staff employed in your Debt
Management Office, which seems curious to us as it appears to be outside
the scope of their duties as Debt Management Officers.
Please could you explain why a Debt Management Officer is responsible for
responding to third-party requests for driver demerit points and driver
suspension histories and in terms of priority, where their responding to
these requests fits into their working day (i.e. are they instructed to
treat driver demerit points and driver suspension history requests with a
lower priority to their other duties?).
Would you please be so kind as to also provide the following information:
1. How many requests for demerit points and driver suspension histories
has NZTA received in the last 12 months?
2. In the last six months, and the six months before that, what is the
average turnaround time (in whole working-days), for completing these
requests? Please separate the average turnaround time for the first six
months and second six months, for comparison purposes.
3. Is any company, organisation or Government agency given priority with
their requests above any other third-party requester? If yes, please
identity all organisations and elaborate on why they are given priority
and whether they pay for the service, or pay a premium for having their
requests treated with priority.
4. What income in the last 12 months has NZTA received for providing the
driver demerit points and driver suspension history service?
5. What has been the direct cost to NZTA in providing this service in the
last 12 months? Please do not include any other duties staff providing
this service might undertake, such as "debt management" or requests from
members of the public about the status of their own demerit points.
6. How many NZTA staff are employed in providing this service and how many
hours per day, on average, does each employee spend on attending to
third-party requests for driver demerit points and driver suspension
histories.
7. For the NZTA staff who provide this service, what other duties do they
perform and how are they instructed to prioritise third-party requests for
demerit points and driver suspension histories, in comparison to their
other duties?
8. What is the direct dial telephone number to speak with an NZTA employee
specifically responsible for processing third-party requests for demerit
points and driver suspension histories in circumstances where a request is
long outstanding? Please do not give us the NZTA 0800 number as from
repeated experience your call center staff have no idea who to put us
through to, or the call is disconnected.
9. What is the direct e-mail address for us to send follow-up requests
regarding out-standing third-party requests for demerit points and driver
suspension histories? Please do not provide the email address
[6][email address] as in the past we have embedded "read receipt" coding
in emails sent to that address and found that emails may not be read for
up to two weeks.
10. Because we have embedded "read receipt" requests in our requests in
recent months on account of the poor turnaround we have become aware that
our requests to the NZTA email address [7][email address] will sit there
for up to two weeks, before being read. Given you are charging for this
service, could you please explain why you are not assigning sufficient
staff to process these requests in a more timely manner?
The reason for my submitting this OIA is that we believe the NZTA is
providing a very poor service to employers requesting driver demerit
points and driver suspension histories. NZTA charges $9.65+GST for every
driver demerit points and driver suspension history request and mostly
takes upwards of two weeks to respond. In contrast, the Ministry of
Justice process third-party request for criminal record histories in about
72 hours, and charge less than the NZTA does for an almost two week wait
for driver demerit point and driver suspension history request. I would
appreciate your comments on this obvious disparity and what you intend to
do to improve your current turnaround time.
If you offered a free service I would have no grounds to complain, but the
NZTA charges for this service so it not unreasonable to expect you to
account for the poor quality of the service now being provided in contrast
to previous years. What has changed?
Yours faithfully,
Mark Williams
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From: Official Correspondence
New Zealand Transport Agency
Dear Mark,
Please find attached the response to your request of 13^th December 2021
for information under the Official Information Act 1982.
Regards
Ministerial Services
Te Waka Kōtuia | Engagement & Partnerships
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency
[1]twitter | [2]youtube | [3]facebook
[4][IMG]
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Williams <[FOI #17927 email]>
Sent: Monday, 13 December 2021 12:37 am
To: Official Correspondence <[NZTA request email]>
Subject: Official Information request - Driver demerit points and driver
suspension history request processing times.
Dear New Zealand Transport Agency,
I am writing to enquire about the processing times and priority afforded
to third-party requests for driver demerit points and driver suspension
histories.
We have used (and paid) for this service for over 15 years to assure
ourselves that applicants for employment who will be driving company
vehicles do not have so many driver demerit points that they may be
suspended from driving on the verge of being suspended from driving if
they commit one further driving offence and consequently unable to perform
the job they could be employed for because they have been suspended from
driving.
Over the last two years we have observed a very significant decline in the
turnaround time from the NZTA of these requests, which we pay for,
reaching out currently, to almost two weeks. This is quite unsatisfactory
for us and also the applicant for employment as we will not employ them
without knowing their demerit points and suspension history.
In recent months we have noticed that replies to request for demerit
points and suspension histories now come from staff employed in your Debt
Management Office, which seems curious to us as it appears to be outside
the scope of their duties as Debt Management Officers.
Please could you explain why a Debt Management Officer is responsible for
responding to third-party requests for driver demerit points and driver
suspension histories and in terms of priority, where their responding to
these requests fits into their working day (i.e. are they instructed to
treat driver demerit points and driver suspension history requests with a
lower priority to their other duties?).
Would you please be so kind as to also provide the following information:
1. How many requests for demerit points and driver suspension histories
has NZTA received in the last 12 months?
2. In the last six months, and the six months before that, what is the
average turnaround time (in whole working-days), for completing these
requests? Please separate the average turnaround time for the first six
months and second six months, for comparison purposes.
3. Is any company, organisation or Government agency given priority with
their requests above any other third-party requester? If yes, please
identity all organisations and elaborate on why they are given priority
and whether they pay for the service, or pay a premium for having their
requests treated with priority.
4. What income in the last 12 months has NZTA received for providing the
driver demerit points and driver suspension history service?
5. What has been the direct cost to NZTA in providing this service in the
last 12 months? Please do not include any other duties staff providing
this service might undertake, such as "debt management" or requests from
members of the public about the status of their own demerit points.
6. How many NZTA staff are employed in providing this service and how many
hours per day, on average, does each employee spend on attending to
third-party requests for driver demerit points and driver suspension
histories.
7. For the NZTA staff who provide this service, what other duties do they
perform and how are they instructed to prioritise third-party requests for
demerit points and driver suspension histories, in comparison to their
other duties?
8. What is the direct dial telephone number to speak with an NZTA employee
specifically responsible for processing third-party requests for demerit
points and driver suspension histories in circumstances where a request is
long outstanding? Please do not give us the NZTA 0800 number as from
repeated experience your call center staff have no idea who to put us
through to, or the call is disconnected.
9. What is the direct e-mail address for us to send follow-up requests
regarding out-standing third-party requests for demerit points and driver
suspension histories? Please do not provide the email address
[5][email address] as in the past we have embedded "read receipt" coding
in emails sent to that address and found that emails may not be read for
up to two weeks.
10. Because we have embedded "read receipt" requests in our requests in
recent months on account of the poor turnaround we have become aware that
our requests to the NZTA email address [6][email address] will sit there
for up to two weeks, before being read. Given you are charging for this
service, could you please explain why you are not assigning sufficient
staff to process these requests in a more timely manner?
The reason for my submitting this OIA is that we believe the NZTA is
providing a very poor service to employers requesting driver demerit
points and driver suspension histories. NZTA charges $9.65+GST for every
driver demerit points and driver suspension history request and mostly
takes upwards of two weeks to respond. In contrast, the Ministry of
Justice process third-party request for criminal record histories in about
72 hours, and charge less than the NZTA does for an almost two week wait
for driver demerit point and driver suspension history request. I would
appreciate your comments on this obvious disparity and what you intend to
do to improve your current turnaround time.
If you offered a free service I would have no grounds to complain, but the
NZTA charges for this service so it not unreasonable to expect you to
account for the poor quality of the service now being provided in contrast
to previous years. What has changed?
Yours faithfully,
Mark Williams
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an Official Information request made via the FYI website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[7][FOI #17927 email]
Is [8][NZTA request email] the wrong address for Official
Information requests to New Zealand Transport Agency? If so, please
contact us using this form:
[9]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[10]https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
If you find this service useful as an Official Information officer, please
ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA or LGOIMA
page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This message, together with any attachments, may contain information that
is classified and/or subject to legal privilege. Any classification
markings must be adhered to. If you are not the intended recipient, you
must not peruse, disclose, disseminate, copy or use the message in any
way. If you have received this message in error, please notify us
immediately by return email and then destroy the original message. This
communication may be accessed or retained by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport
Agency for information assurance purposes.
References
Visible links
1. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
2. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
3. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
4. https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlo...
5. mailto:[email address]
6. mailto:[email address]
7. mailto:[FOI #17927 email]
8. mailto:[NZTA request email]
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