Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many cases are awaiting a decision of the Medical Committee at the DVLA; and what the average waiting time is for resolution of those enquiries.

The length of time taken to deal with an application depends on the medical condition and whether further information is required from medical professionals, such as a driver’s GP. In the financial year 2017/18, it took an average of 32 days to make a decision on a medical case, down from 37 days in the previous financial year.

The DVLA has made major improvements in the length of time taken to deal with medical cases. In the last year, additional doctors have been recruited, taking the number employed from 22 to 35. In addition, ten nurses and additional casework staff have also been recruited to deal with the complex medical casework.

In the last year the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) dealt with over 750,000 medical cases. It is not possible to provide the number of cases requiring medical investigation, with more than 14,000 cases being received each week.