The Department acknowledged in the session that the human stories behind these cases can be genuinely very difficult, commenting that “this is not just a numbers game. It is not just about processing and backlogs. It is about real people and the impact that not being able to get a driving licence can have on their livelihoods and their lives.”16 The DVLA told us that it brought in workarounds to help customers who were badly affected by delays. For example, when the DVLA knew a customer had a job offer or employment 8 C&AG’s Report, paras 12, 20, Figure 8 9 DLB0031, DLB0036, DLB0017, DLB0028 10 DLB0052, DLB0067, DLB0015, DLB0014 11 DLB0040, DLB0058, DLB0063 12 DLB0044 13 DLB0049 14 DLB0040 15 Q 59 16 Q 56 Driving licence backlogs at the DVLA 11 dependent on their driving licence being issued quickly, it looked to prioritise their case.17 However, many of our constituents clearly did not benefit from DVLA’s attempts to help customers in this way and suffered as a consequence.18 The DVLA’s communication about customers’ applications