Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has received recent representations on the validity of Ukrainian driving licences in the UK for Ukrainian refugees.

Enquiries have been received about the use and exchange of Ukrainian driving licences in the GB.

Holders of a Ukrainian driving licence can drive small vehicles (cars up to 3,500kg and motorcycles) for 12 months from the date they become resident in GB. To continue driving after this time, they must obtain a GB licence.

Ukrainian driving licences for cars can also be exchanged for the GB equivalent without the need to take a test. However, drivers who took a test in Ukraine before 28 December 2021 will only be granted entitlement to drive automatic cars when the GB licence is issued. This is because the Ukrainian driver licensing authority does not have information to confirm whether a test was taken in a manual or automatic vehicle before this date.

Officials are currently progressing the work needed to introduce an exchange agreement which would allow holders of a Ukrainian licence to drive larger vehicles to exchange it for a GB equivalent. This is subject to a public consultation and the necessary parliamentary process.

Finally, driver licensing is devolved in Northern Ireland so the relevant regulations would need to be followed by those Ukrainian Refugees resident there.