Driving Licences: Applications

(asked on 8th February 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data his Department holds on the number of (a) new and (b) renewal applications for driving licences were delayed within the DVLA by region in each month since March 2020.


Answered by
Trudy Harrison Portrait
Trudy Harrison
This question was answered on 16th February 2022

The quickest and easiest way to apply for a driving licence is by using the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)’s online service. There are no delays in successful online applications and customers should receive their licence within a few days.

However, many people still choose or have to make a paper application and the DVLA receives around 60,000 items of mail every day. To help reduce waiting times for paper applications, the DVLA has introduced additional online services, recruited more staff, increased overtime working and has secured extra office space in Swansea and Birmingham. The latest information on turnaround times for paper driving licence applications can be found here.

On 8 February 2022, the total number of paper applications awaiting processing at the DVLA was 1,066,659. Information is not held by region. The DVLA normally has around 400,000 applications awaiting processing as thousands of new applications are received each day.

Information is not held on the number of (a) new and (b) renewal applications for driving licences that were delayed by region in each month since March 2020.

The average time taken to issue driving licences in the last three months across online and paper applications is 29 working days. However, the DVLA has focused extra resource on processing vocational driving licence applications to support the Government’s response to the driver shortage. Since November 2021, routine vocational applications have been processed within normal turnaround times of five working days. As with ordinary driving licences, applications where a medical condition(s) must be investigated can take longer.

Reticulating Splines