Why can I not renew my driving licence online?

When one reaches a mature and wise older age it is required that a Guernsey person has to renew their driving licence. In England it is a similar requirement.

In Guernsey the mature, experienced car driver has to have a medical test at the GP with a fair cost of £65. This of course involves driving to the GP and then taking the signed results down to the States traffic services. After being photographed a new driving licence is posted.

In England the mature driver can do all of this using a computer online and the new driving licence is delivered by post. This involves the driver filling in an online medical reporting form and ticking boxes against a list of diseases plus eyesight. The system works because of trust between the government and the 75-year-old as, at the bottom of the online form, there is a requirement to tick an ‘honesty box’ that all statements are true. Lest one lies then there is a fine and your car insurance is revoked.

Why is this online solution not applied in Guernsey? Does the Guernsey civil service not trust mature Guernsey people, but the UK civil service trusts mature English people?

Years ago the head of the civil service, Paul Whitfield, informed us that many procedures would become digital online. On behalf of many mature driving people I would value a comment from:

n Barry Brehaut, head of the Environment Committee, who is responsible for driving.

n Paul Whitfield, head of the government’s civil service.

If indeed one can do it already online then I am humbled.

I ask all mature drivers in Guernsey to immediately write a letter, potentially thousands, to both Paul Whitfield and Barry Brehaut to give me support in this endeavour.

REX FERBRACHE

Address withheld.

Editor’s footnote: a States of Guernsey spokesman replies:

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your correspondent’s letter. We’re pleased to be able to confirm that driving licence renewals are in fact a service we already provide online to those drivers who have registered an online account, provided a valid email contact address and who do not currently have a medical history. This service is not restricted to drivers of a particular age and, as your correspondent suggests, it asks applicants to complete a number of medical-related questions as they would do with a paper application form. However, the service has yet to be promoted more widely as there have been issues with cropping licence photographs that makes the renewal process not as user-friendly as it could be.

The chief executive, Paul Whitfield, has regularly raised the need to move to improve the Guernsey government’s use of technology and the States of Deliberation has recently agreed a major step forward in achieving that aim.

A new programme, named Future Digital Services, will see the States partner with leading digital technology firm Agilisys, who will work to improve not only the government’s in-house IT but also the technology and online services we offer to the community. With regards to driving licences and other vehicle-related services, that work has already begun. The majority of vehicle-related transactions undertaken by motor dealers (including new vehicle registrations, changes of vehicle ownership and registration mark exchanges) are already carried out online and the team at Traffic & Highway Services is already discussing with Agilisys ways of making some of these services available to the general public. We are also looking at digitising driving licence services for those drivers who do have a medical history or whose case needs to be referred to their GP for assessment.

All of that is just a very small part of what we believe the partnership with Agilisys will offer, with similar improvements lined up for online services right across the public sector. The real aim is to get to a stage where accessing day-to-day government services becomes the kind of thing anyone can do on their phone or tablet, while sat on the sofa, watching TV on a Sunday evening, with zero hassle and fast results. That won’t happen overnight, but we can be confident that it will happen, now that States members have given the Future Digital Services programme their support.