I appreciate that, James.
It could also be that he didn;t actually know (or care) about how it is all going to work down here at the pointy end, it's just his job to make sure the 'digitals' are all 'delivered' into the 'multi-channel landscape' and to hell with the consequences. If the DVLA/HM Revenue can diddle the trade/public out of a few million quid in the process, then that's just collateral damage, so happy days!
As we have found with the NI switchover, it will simply be a case of shoot first and apologise later.