Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many drivers in each of the last 10 years have applied to reduce their driving disqualification period; and how many of those applications were successful.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s (DVLA) role is to update and maintain the drivers’ database with driving endorsements, including disqualifications, that are imposed by the courts. The DVLA will amend information on an individual’s driver record when it receives authorisation to do so from the court.

There are 173,432 drivers on the DVLA’s database whose disqualification period has been reduced by the court following the completion of a rehabilitation course for an alcohol related driving offence in the last ten years.

In addition, there are 317 drivers where the courts have asked the DVLA to remove a disqualification in the last ten years. This occurs where an individual has successfully applied to the court that originally dealt with the offence to have the disqualification removed.