Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle delays in processing re-applications to the DVLA following the voluntarily surrender of driving licences on medical grounds.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) aims to process all applications as quickly as possible. Driving licence applications where a medical condition(s) must be investigated before a licence can be issued can take longer. This is because the DVLA is often reliant on receiving information from third parties, including medical professionals, before a licence can be issued.

The DVLA continues to make improvements to the services provided to drivers with medical conditions and is currently rolling out a new casework system. This is expected to deliver significant improvements to the handling of medical cases, support growing customer demand and helping to reduce processing times.

To help reduce the time taken to deal with medical applications, the DVLA has introduced a simplified licence renewal process for some medical conditions. This has reduced the need for further information from medical professionals, enabling more licensing decisions to be made based on the information provided by the driver.

Those applying for a driving licence after previously surrendering it voluntarily may be able to drive while their application is being processed, providing they can meet specific criteria. More information on this can be found online at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1180997/inf1886-can-i-drive-while-my-application-is-with-dvla.pdf.