Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Rachel Taylor Excerpts

Thursday 23rd April 2026 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) (Lab)]

In the west midlands, the average waiting time for a driving test is 22 weeks—nearly six months, up from 12 weeks in October 2022. That often means that young people are unable to take a driving test before taking their A-levels or leaving home for university.

When I was growing up in Atherstone, getting my driving licence was a milestone for my independence. It meant I could see friends, share the driving with my parents when they picked me up at the end of term from university, and take up jobs that simply were not reachable by bus. And when I reached 21, driving the Leeds University night-time women’s minibus provided me with a good income and some great fun, and I was providing an excellent service. In fact, without learning to drive as a teenager and building up my confidence in driving, I would not have been able to drive a group of students from Leeds down to London, and also across to Manchester, to protest against section 28.

That is why I find it so frustrating that so many young people in North Warwickshire and Bedworth are now stuck on endless waiting lists for their driving tests. In a rural area with poor bus connections and unreliable timetables, a driving licence is not a luxury—it is crucial. It gives young people the independence and confidence to pursue education, training and work in neighbouring towns and cities.

I also want to talk about the freight and logistics industry. It is one of the largest employers in my constituency, offering excellent apprenticeships and training opportunities for school leavers ready to start their careers, but buses simply do not run frequently or at the right times for shifts at those hubs. My constituents who are waiting for driving tests are effectively locked out of those opportunities.

An elderly constituent called me because her driving licence was stuck with the DVLA, preventing her from being able to get around. My team and I contacted the DVLA and spoke to a member of the team, who reissued her driving licence fairly promptly. She told me how grateful she was and how much it would help her, but it should not take MPs getting involved to deal with these issues. For people like my constituent, a driving licence is a lifeline, allowing her to get to appointments, shops, and nearby villages and towns to see friends and stop being isolated. The DVLA must process requests in a timely manner to ensure that people are not left isolated in rural communities.

In 2021, the UK experienced a huge shortage of heavy goods vehicle drivers, which was compounded by the delays in tests for HGV licences. Luckily, that situation has improved, with current practical test wait times broadly acceptable at around three weeks; the real problem now is with the availability of theory tests for HGV drivers. As HGV candidates must sit multiple theory tests—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

Order. It might be helpful if I highlight that driving tests are governed not by the DVLA, but by the DVSA—the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency. The subject of this afternoon’s debate is very specifically the DVLA. Perhaps Members might take that as a point of information and constrain their remarks to the DVLA.

[Rachel Taylor]

My apologies. I think when most of our constituents think of the DVLA and the DVSA, they think of them as one and the same, but thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for correcting me on that point.

I think it is still fair to say that young people need access to their driving licence, and that the many people with health conditions who might have to hand in their licence are reliant on it coming back quickly. My own mum has to take my dad around for hospital appointments; she cannot get to her nearest shop or go out to see her friends. There are real impacts here for people who have suffered minor strokes, for example, and have not had their driving licence returned. It is a situation that the Government need to look at, and I would be grateful for anything that the Minister can tell us to inform the situation. I thank the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Vikki Slade) for securing the debate.

--- Later in debate ---

[Chris Bloore (Redditch) (Lab)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Vikki Slade) on securing this debate.

This is one of those occasions where I do not have a written speech from my staff. Most MPs, I suspect, use some sort of casework system; I am up to almost 20,000 cases at the moment, but when a constituent visited me at my most recent surgery, I think his case number was between 2,000 and 3,000. I was shocked to see that someone who had come to me so early was still on our database, and this debate reminds me of his extraordinary situation.

My constituent Kevin Flemming, who has allowed me to talk about his case, had an incredible moment in his life where he was told he had a benign tumour in his brain. He described to me the shock of that moment, as a young man with children. He went through the whole process of diagnosis and treatment; thankfully, the tumour was benign and he managed to get himself back to full health. To be quite frank, however, the DVLA has acted in a way that I find completely unacceptable for an institution that is meant to serve the people of this country. The rules on parliamentary language mean that I cannot repeat here the words that I used at my surgery on Saturday, but it should not be the case that someone who has gone through the six-month wait after a procedure and who has had it medically proven that their sight has not changed or deteriorated throughout that two-year process should still be waiting for an answer about when they are getting their licence back.

My constituent has worked for HMRC. He has worked with the public. He has helped businesses. He is a public servant. It takes him an extra three hours to get to and from work because of the situation that he has been forced into. I credit HMRC, which I would not usually in this place, because it has given my constituent the ability to work from home more often. However, he wants to be in the office; he wants to lead his team to provide a quality service for the people he works with. Shamefully, he has now had to choose semi-retirement, because he still has not had his licence back. Not only did he have to go through the process of thinking about whether he might die, but he now feels isolated and like his self-worth has been diminished just because he wants to do the basic thing, which is to go out and provide for his family.

I was shocked when I became an MP to find that 85% of my casework is about chasing public institutions to do the job that they are meant to do. My hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire and Bedworth (Rachel Taylor) mentioned the DVSA—we could have a whole debate on that, but I know, Madam Deputy Speaker, that we are not allowed to do so right now. It is unacceptable that, just because we send an email from a parliamentary email address, suddenly the seas part and things are resolved. Some of my constituents will not come to me to support them, because they do not know that I can help them. Quite frankly, it should not be that way.

I again thank the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Vikki Slade) for bringing the debate forward. I can imagine that Kevin in my constituency is not the only person who has had to make a huge financial decision to get on with his life, which will undoubtedly impact how he can support his children in future. I am sure that the Minister will respond to all the points put forward by everybody today. This is not just about an administrative process and trying to get some waiting times down; it is about something that is having a material impact every day on the people we represent. How that is allowed to happen is beyond the realms of my thinking.

[Rachel Taylor]

My hon. Friend is making a passionate speech. There is a real danger, given that delays are having such an impact on our constituents, that they and others will be led to not being honest about medical conditions, so that they can keep their driving licences. The knock-on effect of that on safety on our streets is unimaginable.

[Chris Bloore]

I completely concur with my hon. Friend’s point. We are asking people to play by the rules, yet the rules do not work for them.

I conclude by paying tribute to the work of my hon. Friend the Member for West Bromwich (Sarah Coombes) on ghost plates. It is a moment of pride to be named as a supporter of her Bill. She has done an extraordinary job in trying to fight an issue that goes across county lines in a rural constituency such as mine, which has a huge impact on safety and criminal activity. If the question is whether the DVLA is fit for purpose, I think my constituents would probably say no.