Interesting UK data on unit costs of high volume government transactions

[petagny]

Here are some interesting figures on the unit costs of some regular transactions high volume transactions (>750,000 per year) undertaken by various departments in the UK government:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2013/jan/18/cost-government-transactions-open-data#transaction

It's a Cabinet Office initiative and it seems that not all ministries have been forthcoming with the information, notably the Department of Works and Pensions. Either they don't know or they don't want to tell. Which is more worrying?

I've recently changed the address on my driving license at a cost of £20, when apparently it costs £3.50 to do this. It seems that this particular 'user charge' might actually contain a large component of tax!

[harnett]

If it's a UK license, it's free to change the address, as long as you have all parts of the license!!

[petagny]

I've checked again and you're right!

I changed my photo at the same time (using a new passport photo which was already in the system)for which I was charged £20 - but costs the DfT £4.72 to do according to the table. So it looks like £11.78 of my fee is a cross-subsidy for those that are changing their addresses. But I guess I could have chosen not to do this and meeting a legal obligation is free.