A local councillor has expressed concern over the government’s decision to remove DVLA services from post offices.

The announcement was made earlier this year and would mean that this over-the-counter assistance would be removed from Sunday, March 31.

The National Federation of SubPostmasters (NFSP) has warned that losing these face-to-face transactions will have “have an extremely negative impact on vulnerable and digitally excluded customers whilst also jeopardising the livelihood of 50,000 full-time equivalent employees who work in the post offices around the UK.”

Wiltshire councillor Howard Greenman, who is also non-executive director of the Southwest NFSP, said: “I believe the potential withdrawal of the DVLA contract from Post Offices to be discriminatory.

“Given that 1.2 million adults do not have a bank account and 6% of households equating to 1.51 million people do not have access to the internet the disadvantages are obvious not only to those who wish to tax their vehicles but also to the government in terms of subsequent loss of revenue by those who cannot or will not.''

Geri Schuch bought the Corsham Post Office at the end of 2020 and employs seven part-time employees from the local area.

She says: “I rely on the Post Office to increase the footfall of my retail business and it is the income from the retail which allows the business to be commercially viable. 

“It is simply not possible to make a living from the income of the Post Office Services alone.

“In addition, there is a real impact on my customers, many of whom are elderly, who rely on being able to come into the Post Office to tax their cars as they have no access to online services. 

“Many of our customers come in having failed to be able to complete their transaction on the DVLA website. 

“Very often they come to us as a last resort at their wits’ end having spent hours on the DVLA website and there is a great deal of job satisfaction when we are able to sort out a customer's problems.”

However, the NFSP is calling on the government to reverse its decision to remove these services from the Post Office network.

It hopes to present its petition to MPs on Thursday, November 2nd of this year.

A DVLA spokesperson said: “The Post Office currently provide a limited range of DVLA’s services and an extension to the current contract has been agreed until 31 March 2024.

 “We want our customers to be able to access our services as quickly and as easily as possible, and the role of front office counter services will form part of the considerations of any future service offerings.”