Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will review the fee for third parties seeking to access DVLA driver records to ensure that it strikes the right balance between providing easy access to data and ensuring value for money for the Government.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) keeps the fees it charges for data release under regular review. The charges levied are intended to recover the full cost of providing the information, so that the DVLA neither profits at the expense of customers nor makes a loss for taxpayers to subsidise. This is in line with HM Treasury’s Managing Public Money guidance.

Over time, the costs of individual DVLA services can slightly increase or decrease, depending in part on the volume of requests, leading to a small surplus or deficit in the short term.