Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the length of delays in the DVLA medical licensing process, particularly the time taken for applications to be reviewed by medical caseworkers after receipt; what steps her Department is taking to improve capacity and processing times; and whether (a) service standards and (b) target timeframes are in place for medical licence decisions.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) aims to process all applications as quickly as possible. However, driving licence applications where a medical condition(s) must be investigated before a licence can be issued can take longer as they vary widely in complexity and the DVLA is often reliant on receiving information from third parties, including medical professionals, before a licence can be issued.
The DVLA is currently rolling out a new casework system which will deliver significant improvements to the services provided to drivers with medical conditions. This will be fully implemented by March 2026 and will provide improved turnaround times, increased capacity, increased automation, higher levels of digital functionality and increased digital communication. The DVLA is also increasing the number of staff to help reduce application processing and call waiting times.
The DVLA’s most recent annual report and accounts for 2024/25 showed that the DVLA achieved 85 per cent against its customer service measure to make a licensing decision in 90 days in 90 per cent of medical driving licence cases.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many posts there are for (a) press, (b) media and (c) other communications staff in her Department; and what the salary band is for each post.
Answered by Mike Kane
In the central Department for Transport communications team, there are a total of 91.01 Full Time Equivalent Government Communication Service professionals.
Of this total, 31.82 work in the media discipline which covers press and media responsibilities.
This is the latest available data from June 2024.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the impact of the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill on safety on trains.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024 makes no changes to existing roles and responsibilities regarding safety or tackling crime and anti-social behaviour. As such, there is no reason to expect any adverse impacts. The Government expects publicly owned train operators to focus relentlessly on the interests of passengers rather than shareholders, resulting in better outcomes for passengers across a range of areas, which will include personal security on trains.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has a strategy for tackling violence against women and girls on trains after the passage of the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Tackling violence against women and girls is a priority for the Government. We have set the ambitious target to halve this figure in the next decade using every lever available to us. The Department is working closely with the central mission delivery unit in the Cabinet Office to achieve the aims set out in the Government’s Safer Streets mission.
The British Transport Police will continue to police the rail network following the transition of passenger services into public ownership to prevent and investigate crime, and in particular to tackle violence against women and girls.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of lighting on trains on the levels of violence against women and girls travelling on the network.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The National Travel Attitudes Survey on perceptions of safety when walking, cycling and using public transport, found that a ‘poorly lit vehicle or carriage’ was the joint seventh most popular reason for feeling unsafe when travelling on a public transport vehicle. The Rail Safety and Standards Board sets requirements around lighting for new rolling stock. We continue to work with the rail industry including the Rail Delivery Group and the British Transport Police to ensure the rail network remains a safe environment for the travelling public.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department will have responsibility for safety on trains following passage of the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership Bill).
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024 makes no changes to existing roles and responsibilities regarding safety or tackling crime and anti-social behaviour. Tackling crime is the responsibility of the British Transport Police, who will continue to police the rail network following the transition of passenger services into public ownership. Safety regulation will remain the responsibility of the independent regulator, the Office of Rail and Road.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase the digitisation of the process for applying for driving licences through the DVLA.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The quickest and easiest way to transact with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is by using its extensive suite of online services. There are no delays in successful online applications and customers should receive their documents within a few days.
The DVLA is continuing to expand its driver application online services over the next year. This will allow customers to upload their own photograph and signature instead of using one from a UK passport, as the current service requires. The DVLA is also working with the Home Office to create an electronic link to its View and prove your immigration status service. This will allow those with a non-UK passport to be authenticated online and use the DVLA online application service.
Drivers with diabetes, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, a visual impairment, a sleep condition or a heart condition are also able to renew their licence online.
The DVLA has also recently introduced a simplified licence renewal process for drivers with epilepsy and multiple sclerosis and is piloting this for some mental health conditions. This renewal process has significantly reduced the need for the DVLA to seek further information from medical professionals and enabled more licensing decisions to be made based on the information provided by the driver. The DVLA is looking at adding more medical conditions to this new process.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of the (a) primary and (b) secondary legislation sponsored by (i) their Department or (ii) their predecessor Department has undergone a post legislative review in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The number of post legislative reviews the Department has undertaken on primary and secondary legislation in each of the last ten years is not held within the Department.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many post legislative reviews (a) their Department or (b) their predecessor Department has undertaken on (i) primary and (ii) secondary legislation in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The number of post legislative reviews the Department has undertaken on primary and secondary legislation in each of the last ten years is not held within the Department.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many pieces of (a) primary and (b) secondary legislation their Department has sponsored in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
Due for example to machinery of Government changes to Departmental structures over the past decade, accurate comparisons between years cannot be made. However, based on the best available data, the number of primary and secondary legislation sponsored by the Department in the last 10 years is as follows:
Year | Primary Legislation | Secondary Legislation |
2021 | 2 | 207 |
2020 | 0 | 133 |
2019 | 0 | 226 |
2018 | 4 | 206 |
2017 | 3 | 174 |
2016 | 0 | 139 |
2015 | 1 | 587 |
2014 | 0 | 1825 |
2013 | 2 | 1831 |
2012 | 1 | 1884 |