Business of the House

Peter Grant Excerpts

Thursday 10th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Peter Grant (Glenrothes) (SNP)]

I congratulate the Leader of the House on being able to hold down three jobs. Several of my constituents do not have a job. They lost their job or had a job offer withdrawn because it took the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency six months or more to renew their driving licence. I firmly support the earlier request by the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Catherine West) for a debate in Government time to look into the performance of the DVLA, in particular the gross discrimination against people who have to declare a medical condition. That is what is causing the delays. That is what forces people to use an outdated manual system, instead of the online system. Will the Leader of the House advise his colleagues in other Departments that that discrimination is not only indefensible; it is almost certainly unlawful and the Government could be facing a massive compensation bill if they do not get their act together pronto?

[Mark Spencer]

The hon. Gentleman is right to highlight the cases he talks about. There will be an opportunity for him to question Transport Ministers in the near future. I encourage him to use the methods available to him to pursue this issue in the House with an Adjournment debate or a Backbench Business debate.