Driving Licences: Older People

(asked on 8th July 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people over the age of 70 are waiting for a decision on the renewal of their driving licence following the expiry of their existing licence who applied for that renewal after the Government’s covid-19 extension period expired on 31 December 2020.


Answered by
Rachel Maclean Portrait
Rachel Maclean
This question was answered on 13th July 2021

Drivers whose licence expired between 1 February and 31 December 2020 have had their entitlement to drive in the UK automatically extended for 11 months. The extension started from the date the licence was due to expire. Drivers whose entitlement expires on or after 1 January 2021, are advised to renew their driving licence as normal.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s (DVLA) online services have been available throughout the pandemic and are the quickest and easiest way to renew a driving licence. There are no delays in successful online applications and customers should receive their driving licence within a few days.

However, many people still choose or have to make a paper application for a driving licence. The DVLA receives around 60,000 items of mail every day which must be dealt with in person. Ongoing industrial action by members of the Public and Commercial Services union, along with fewer operational staff being on site to allow for social distancing in line with Welsh Government requirements and an increased demand for its services has led to delays in dealing with paper applications. The DVLA has leased an additional building to accommodate more operational staff.

The number of paper applications awaiting processing fluctuates daily as driving licences are issued and new applications received. Currently, paper applications are likely to take six to ten weeks to process. There may be additional delays in processing more complex transactions, for example, if medical investigations are needed as part of a driving licence application. The latest information on turnaround times for paper driving licence applications can be found here.

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