Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many reapplications to the DVLA for driving licences following medical conditions have taken more than 8 weeks to assess in each of the last two years.

The length of time taken to deal with an application depends on the medical condition and whether further information is required from medical professionals.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has made major improvements in this area, including introducing an electronic service which allows drivers to notify the DVLA online about certain medical conditions. The DVLA has recruited 100 extra casework staff as well as more doctors to deal with complex cases. Three nurses have also been employed to help deal with certain cases and further recruitment is underway.

A dedicated team has been put in place which is responsible for continuous improvement of medical driver licensing services and communications. Letters to customers and medical professionals have been improved, helping to ensure that the DVLA receives the information it needs as quickly as possible.

These changes have had significant and sustainable improvements. Information specifically about the time taken to assess re-applications for a driving licence following notification of a medical condition is not available. Since 1 April 2016 the DVLA has dealt with 645,841 medical cases. Of these, 72% received a licensing decision within eight weeks.