Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Correspondence

(asked on 22nd September 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether there is a backlog in (a) opening and (b) responding to postal enquiries at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.


Answered by
Rachel Maclean Portrait
Rachel Maclean
This question was answered on 25th September 2020

The DVLA’s 6,000 staff are largely based at a single site in Swansea and to adhere to Welsh Government social distancing requirements the number of staff on-site had been greatly reduced. While there are not generally delays in opening paper applications, processing them may take longer as they have to be dealt with in person. The DVLA has reconfigured its accommodation to maximise staff numbers while meeting the requirement in Wales to maintain the two-metre social distancing and ensure it remains Covid secure.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has a range of online services available which offer quick and easy ways of transacting. The DVLA’s online services have worked well and as normal throughout the pandemic. Between March and the end of August, the DVLA has issued nearly seven million vehicle registration certificates and three and a half million driving licences.

The DVLA has also accelerated the development of additional online services to further reduce the number of paper applications and supported the take up of these through a publicity campaign. In June, the DVLA launched a new service allowing vehicle keepers to change their address online. This service was developed and introduced at pace and has been very successful with more than 213,000 change of address transactions completed online by the end of August. Further digital service enhancements are underway.

Additionally, drivers with a licence that expires between 1 February and 31 December 2020 have been given an automatic extension from the date of expiry. This means they will not need to renew their entitlement to drive until 11 months after the original expiry date.

Reticulating Splines