Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service (MAWWFRS) has switched to the fully automated DAVIS compliance platform from Derby-based Licence Check.

MAWWFRS employs more than 1,300 drivers to provide emergency response cover for mid and west Wales

The service employs more than 1,300 drivers to provide emergency response cover for mid and west Wales – an area covering almost 4,500 square miles or around two-thirds of the country.

Compliance is a hugely important issue for MAWWFRS and was a key factor in the switch from its existing supplier last autumn. The timing also worked out well as the service was able to take advantage of a new Welsh Government framework for automated fleet compliance services, which had been awarded to Licence Check as sole provider in late 2022.

MAWWFRS said it’s already achieved “excellent results” from the switch. All staff were quickly migrated to Licence Check’s DAVIS cloud-based driver and vehicle compliance management solution, signing electronic mandates to allow fully automated licence checking via the DVLA Access to Driver Data service.

Benefits of the new technology also include real-time digital checks, which enable MAWWFRS to check staff entitlement to drive vehicles as quickly as possible for urgent callouts. The training delivery instructors also rate the new automated service as they can instantly check the status of the staff they are training.

Sarah Davies, health & safety and welfare officer at MAWWFRS, said another major benefit of DAVIS was the report summaries it could generate on-demand.

“Now it is very easy to see the number of HGV and other classes of drivers we have, who they are and their licence status. Our previous system couldn’t produce these very useful summaries.

“And with new recruits, every new driver has to undergo a driving assessment and submit to licence checking before they join the Service to speed up the recruitment process.

“We have found DAVIS very easy to operate with very little or no additional training required,” she added.

Licence Check managing director Keith Allen said the nature of MAWWFRS’s business meant it made perfect sense to go down a fully automated compliance route.

“As a result, the service is seeing a number of real operational benefits through the use of DAVIS to automate its driving licence checking processes and manage its driving risk more effectively and efficiently,” he added.