Written questions, answers and statements

Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Driving Licences

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Question for Department for Transport

UIN 51021, tabled on 17 September 2021

Question

Stephanie Peacock
Labour
Barnsley East
Commons

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase the speed with which HGV driver applications are processed.

Answer

Trudy Harrison
Conservative
Copeland
Commons

Answered on

22 September 2021

The DVLA is currently prioritising applications for HGV driving licences and continues to explore opportunities to reduce turnaround times for paper applications. Extra staff have been recruited and the DVLA is seeking extra office space to house more staff to help reduce backlogs and provide future resilience and business continuity.

Paper driving licence applications are currently taking between six and ten weeks to process and more information is available on GOV.UK here. There may be additional delays in processing more complex transactions, for example, if medical investigations are needed.

Following a public consultation, the Department is also introducing changes that will streamline the licensing process for new HGV drivers and increase driving test availability. These are aimed to help address current driver shortages. A written statement to Parliament about these changes has been published on GOV.UK.

Answered by

Department for Transport
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