Many constituents have raised with me concerns over difficulties with the DVLA. I have dealt with numerous cases of delays and problems. You may have also seen revelations raised in The Times’ article last month about the DVLA.
To that end I have been raising these issues with Ministers at the Department for Transport. The large amount of case enquiries locally, about delays in the processing of driving licenses at the DVLA is a concern, so I was interested to receive the Minister’s response earlier this month which you can read in full via the weblink below. The key points from the letter are as follows:
- There are still delays but they are being worked on. The total number of paper applications awaiting processing now stands at just over 850,000 from the peak of 1.6 million in September 2021. At any one time, the DVLA normally has around 400,000 paper applications being processed.
- The DVLA’s online services are not subject to delays and remain the quickest and easiest way to apply, but not all customers can or wish to use online services and the DVLA receives tens of thousands of new paper applications each day.
- 6 months of industrial action by the Public and Commercial Services union targeted at areas with most impact on the motoring public and staffing numbers reduced on site to ensure staff safety, in line with Welsh Government guidance created a backlog of paper applications.
- The DVLA has eased restrictions in line with advice from Public Health Wales and environmental health teams.
- The backlog of vehicles paper application has already bee eliminated.
- Straightforward vocational driving licence applications and renewals are being processed within five working days with no backlog.
- The DVLA is on track to return to normal turnaround times on all paper driving licence applications by the end of May.
While I am pleased action is being taken to sort out the delays and backlogs, it is still a concern locally. The letter goes into these issues in more detail, which I hope provides some reassurance, although, or course, I am more than willing to continue to raise particular cases involving Bosworth constituents with officials. As always, I am interested to know how issues are being played out on the ground, so if you are struggling or know someone who is then please do get them to get in contact with me.
Finally, from the response that I have received, I am pleased that delays and issues are being tackled by the DVLA with oversight from Ministers, and this is something I will continue to proactively monitor.