Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, further to the Answer of 16 April 2026 to Question [UIN 126472] on [Driving Licences: Health], what the DVLA's target processing time is for medical driving licence applications, what proportion of applications in 2025/26 exceeded that target, and how many applications have been outstanding for longer than (a) three months and (b) six months.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)’s target for 2025/26 was to make a medical licensing decision within an average of 50 working days. During the same period, 43.3 per cent of licensing decisions were made outside of the 50 working day target.

As of 12 October, 49,981 medical licensing applications had been open for three to six months and 24,768 applications open for six months or more.

Applications that require medical investigation can often take longer to process as they depend on the nature of the condition(s) involved and whether further information is required from third parties, for example doctors or other healthcare professionals, before a licensing decision can be made.

To keep up with growing customer demand and to offer a better service, the DVLA has launched a new casework system which will deliver significant improvements to drivers with medical conditions. The DVLA has also launched a new digital medical services portal which supports applications relating to around 1,600 medical conditions. Further enhancements for customers applying for a provisional licence and those renewing at the age of 70 or over were made recently.

These enhancements, alongside the recruitment of additional staff to deal with applications will deliver real improvements in services and turnaround times for customers.