Forty-first Report - Driving licence backlogs at the DVLA

Select Committee

Public Accounts Committee HC 735 17 March 2023

Report Status Government responded

Conclusions & Recommendations 26 items (10 recs)

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Government Response (AI assessment · 26 of 26 classified)

Accepted 14

Acknowledged 7

Deferred 3

Not Addressed 2

Government response

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Forty first report from Session 2022-23 · published 30 May 2023

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Recommendations & Conclusions

3 results

5 Recommendation Deferred

The DVLA’s system to process applications from customers who have notified it of relevant medical...

Recommendation

The DVLA’s system to process applications from customers who have notified it of relevant medical conditions is slow, inefficient and in need of major improvement. Processing times for applications that involve the DVLA making a medical decision are far longer … Read more The DVLA’s system to process applications from customers who have notified it of relevant medical conditions is slow, inefficient and in need of major improvement. Processing times for applications that involve the DVLA making a medical decision are far longer than for other applications, with many decisions taking a year or more. At the time we took evidence in November, the DVLA expected to clear its remaining backlog of such applications by January 2023, returning to meeting its target of processing at least 90% of these applications within 90 working days. But in our view even 90 working days is too long for customers to wait. Customers experiencing problems after notifying the DVLA of medical conditions have been the main source of complaints to the DVLA since 2018–19, and we are concerned that the DVLA’s poor service discriminates against its more vulnerable customers. The Department acknowledges that the legislative framework for medical licensing has not been reviewed for decades. The DVLA’s decisions often require information from GPs and other medical professionals, which is requested and returned using paper documentation. The DVLA intends to introduce modern, digital communications to speed up information exchange with the health sector but given the technical challenges involved, it is not yet clear to us when and how it will do this. Recommendations: a) The DVLA should in its Treasury Minute confirm that it has resolved the backlog in applications from drivers with notifiable medical conditions as expected, and if not, why it has not and when it will do so. b) By the end of 2024 at the latest, the Department should complete a strategic review of the system to process applications from driving licence customers who have notified it of relevant medical conditions, encompassing both the legislative framework and process management. It should set out its timetable for the review in the Treasury Minute. It should work with the Department of Health and Socia Show less

Government Response Summary

Ministers will shortly be considering proposals for action and the department will update the Committee in its subsequent letter, setting out those actions together with a more complete timeline.

HM Treasury

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22 Conclusion Deferred

The Department commented that the current legislative framework of medical licensing has not been looked...

Conclusion

The Department commented that the current legislative framework of medical licensing has not been looked at for a very long time and raised the question of whether it was still fit for purpose. Many factors have changed since the legislation … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government disagrees with the recommendation to review the legislative framework of medical licensing, stating that Ministers will need to decide whether and how any strategic review or alternative action is undertaken and will update the Committee in its subsequent letter.

HM Treasury

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23 Conclusion Deferred

We also heard that the DVLA’s decisions often require information from GPs and other medical...

Conclusion

We also heard that the DVLA’s decisions often require information from GPs and other medical professionals, which is requested and returned using paper documentation. 40 Q 47; Letter from DVLA to PAC dated 8 December; Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency, … Read more

Government Response Summary

The department is currently unable to agree to this recommendation as Ministers will need to decide whether and how any strategic review or alternative action is undertaken, and will update the Committee in its subsequent letter, setting out those actions together with a more complete timeline.

HM Treasury

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