Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the average processing time of applications submitted to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Applications sent to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency are being processed within published turnaround times.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average processing time was for reissuing a driving licence following medical clearance in the last 12 months; and if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of that average processing time.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) aims to make a licensing decision within 90 working days in 90% of cases where a medical investigation must be investigated before a licence can be issued. In the 2023/24 financial year, the average time to make a licensing decision in such cases was 55 working days.
The length of time taken to deal with an application varies depending on the medical condition(s) involved and whether further information is required from medical professionals. The DVLA is often reliant on receiving information from medical professionals before it can take any further action on an application.
Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the waiting time is for replacement driving licences.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The average waiting time to process digital applications is typically around one day, if the transaction is successful, and casework or medical enquiries are not required. The average waiting time to process a straightforward paper application is around a week. For example, in December 2023, a replacement driving licence was issued within five working days.
Driving licence applications where a medical condition must be investigated before a licence can be issued can take longer because the DVLA is often reliant on receiving information from third parties, for example doctors or other healthcare professionals, before a decision can be made on whether to issue a licence.
It is important to note that the majority of applicants renewing an existing licence will be able to continue driving while their application is being processed, providing they have not been told not to drive by a doctor or optician.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to include (a) information on and (b) opt-in forms for (i) organ, (ii) stem cell and (iii) blood donation with DVLA application forms.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Following a request from the National Health Blood and Transplant Service (NHSBT), the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) introduced a process to enable driving licence applicants to register their details on the NHS Organ Donor Register. This can be done when applying for a driving licence using DVLA’s paper or online services. When an applicant notifies the DVLA that they wish to register as an organ donor, this is recorded on their driving licence and the NHS Organ Donor Register.
The Department remains happy to consider a similar process for stem cell and blood donation should such a request be received.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve the efficiency of the DVLA when processing driving licence applications for individuals (a) without and (b) with a medical condition.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On 10 January 2024, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) had 61,766 non-medical and 134,292 medical driving licence applications currently being processed. This is within the normal volume of applications being processed by the DVLA at any one time and applications are being processed within normal turnaround times.
It is important to note that the length of time taken to deal with a driving licence application where medical enquiries must be carried out very often depends on whether further information is required from a driver or their medical practitioners. The DVLA is often wholly reliant on receiving information from third parties, including doctors, before it can make a licensing decision. Currently, around half of driving licence applications where a medical condition must be investigated are awaiting further information from the applicant’s doctor or the applicant themselves before the DVLA can take any further action.
The DVLA has made changes to the way licensing decisions have been made for drivers with certain medical conditions. The DVLA has also changed the law to allow medical professionals other than doctors to provide the information required for the DVLA to be able to progress these applications.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many driving licence applications are outstanding as of 10 January 2023.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On 10 January 2024, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) had 61,766 non-medical and 134,292 medical driving licence applications currently being processed. This is within the normal volume of applications being processed by the DVLA at any one time and applications are being processed within normal turnaround times.
It is important to note that the length of time taken to deal with a driving licence application where medical enquiries must be carried out very often depends on whether further information is required from a driver or their medical practitioners. The DVLA is often wholly reliant on receiving information from third parties, including doctors, before it can make a licensing decision. Currently, around half of driving licence applications where a medical condition must be investigated are awaiting further information from the applicant’s doctor or the applicant themselves before the DVLA can take any further action.
The DVLA has made changes to the way licensing decisions have been made for drivers with certain medical conditions. The DVLA has also changed the law to allow medical professionals other than doctors to provide the information required for the DVLA to be able to progress these applications.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many D777B application forms were received by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority in 2023; and what the average waiting time was for approving those applications.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The table below shows the total number and average waiting time of manual and digital applications processed in 2023.
| Manual applications | Digital applications | ||
| Total number processed | Average processing time (in working days) | Total number processed | Average processing time |
V5C Vehicle Registration Certificate | 2,541,989 | 4 | 14,497,650 These transactions are not available separately | The average waiting time to process digital applications is not readily available but is typically one day if the transaction is successful and casework or medical enquiries are not required. |
V62 Application for a Vehicle Registration Certificate | 1,499,893 | 9 | ||
V890 Statutory Off Road Notification | 62,769 | 1 | 2,381,559 | |
V317 Application to keep/transfer a vehicle registration number | 115,168 | 4 | 1,002,687 | |
D1 – non medical Application for a driving licence | 1,716,073 | 6 | 7,622,328 | |
D2 – non medical Application for lorry, bus or minibus driving licence | 284,980 | 5 | 62,982 | |
D1 - medical Application for a driving licence | 309,395 | 63 | 55,802 | |
D2 - medical Application for lorry, bus or minibus driving licence | 90,273 | 55 | This service is not offered online | |
D777B Application for a driver digital tachograph card | 22,488 | 3 | 159,888 | |
For the figures above, the mode average has been used to calculate the number of average processing days.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many D2 application forms were received by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority in 2023; and what the average waiting time was for approving those applications.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The table below shows the total number and average waiting time of manual and digital applications processed in 2023.
| Manual applications | Digital applications | ||
| Total number processed | Average processing time (in working days) | Total number processed | Average processing time |
V5C Vehicle Registration Certificate | 2,541,989 | 4 | 14,497,650 These transactions are not available separately | The average waiting time to process digital applications is not readily available but is typically one day if the transaction is successful and casework or medical enquiries are not required. |
V62 Application for a Vehicle Registration Certificate | 1,499,893 | 9 | ||
V890 Statutory Off Road Notification | 62,769 | 1 | 2,381,559 | |
V317 Application to keep/transfer a vehicle registration number | 115,168 | 4 | 1,002,687 | |
D1 – non medical Application for a driving licence | 1,716,073 | 6 | 7,622,328 | |
D2 – non medical Application for lorry, bus or minibus driving licence | 284,980 | 5 | 62,982 | |
D1 - medical Application for a driving licence | 309,395 | 63 | 55,802 | |
D2 - medical Application for lorry, bus or minibus driving licence | 90,273 | 55 | This service is not offered online | |
D777B Application for a driver digital tachograph card | 22,488 | 3 | 159,888 | |
For the figures above, the mode average has been used to calculate the number of average processing days.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many D1 application forms were received by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority in 2023; and what the average waiting time was for approving those applications.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The table below shows the total number and average waiting time of manual and digital applications processed in 2023.
| Manual applications | Digital applications | ||
| Total number processed | Average processing time (in working days) | Total number processed | Average processing time |
V5C Vehicle Registration Certificate | 2,541,989 | 4 | 14,497,650 These transactions are not available separately | The average waiting time to process digital applications is not readily available but is typically one day if the transaction is successful and casework or medical enquiries are not required. |
V62 Application for a Vehicle Registration Certificate | 1,499,893 | 9 | ||
V890 Statutory Off Road Notification | 62,769 | 1 | 2,381,559 | |
V317 Application to keep/transfer a vehicle registration number | 115,168 | 4 | 1,002,687 | |
D1 – non medical Application for a driving licence | 1,716,073 | 6 | 7,622,328 | |
D2 – non medical Application for lorry, bus or minibus driving licence | 284,980 | 5 | 62,982 | |
D1 - medical Application for a driving licence | 309,395 | 63 | 55,802 | |
D2 - medical Application for lorry, bus or minibus driving licence | 90,273 | 55 | This service is not offered online | |
D777B Application for a driver digital tachograph card | 22,488 | 3 | 159,888 | |
For the figures above, the mode average has been used to calculate the number of average processing days.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to allow people applying for driving licences on the DVLA website to sign up for (a) stem cell and (b) blood donation.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Following a request from the National Health Blood and Transplant Service, a process was introduced to enable driving licence applicants to register their details on the NHS Organ Donor Register. This includes those applying via DVLA’s online services. The Department hasn’t been asked to consider this with stem and blood donation, but it would be happy to consider.