Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average processing time was for an HGV driving licence application in (a) 2018, (b) 2019 and (c) 2020.
The table below shows the average processing time for vocational (which includes HGV) driving licence applications.
Financial Year | Average days to issue a vocational driving licence |
2018/19 | 3.33 |
2019/20 | 3.42 |
2020/21 | 6.71 |
2021/22 (to end of August) | 16.80 |
Industrial action by the Public and Commercial Services union, a significantly reduced number of staff on site to ensure social distancing in line with Welsh Government requirements, as well as the increased demand for Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) services has led to the increased processing times in this financial year.
It is not possible to specify how many staff are working on applications for HGV licences as most DVLA operational roles require employees to carry out a range of tasks.