MPs to question DVLA about 'serious delays' in processing driving licence applications
MPs are to question officials from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) about "serious delays" in processing applications for driving licences.
The Transport Committee session will take place later this month, following concerns from motorists, learner drivers and lorry drivers about long delays in receiving documents.
The DVLA has been embroiled in a long-running dispute with the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union about Covid-related safety at its offices in Swansea which has led to a series of strikes.
The committee said the agency is apparently experiencing serious delays in processing paper-based applications for driving licences and other key documents.
MPs say that the delays have created "significant adverse consequences" for people who submitted photo identification such as passports to support their applications.
One man who has been affected by the delays is Edward Butler Jones from Denbigh.
As he is aged over 70, he is required to renew his drivers licence every three years – usually a formality unless health issues have arisen.
The 78-year-old submitted his forms in late May and needs the application to be approved before his birthday on July 22 - but he still doesn’t know if they have arrived at the DVLA in Swansea.
“I’ve been told you can still drive if your renewal is being processed, but I have no evidence my form actually arrived at the DVLA,” said Mr Jones.“It might have got lost in the post. So I’ve been trying to get an acknowledgement. I even sent a letter by recorded delivery on June 24, which arrived the next day, but I’ve heard nothing.
“I been keeping a count of the number of phone calls I’ve made – so far it’s 58. But I can never get through and I'm getting really worried. If I don’t get my licence back before my birthday, I’ll be like a caged lion."
It will be the Committee's second evidence session with the DVLA this year after their chief executive, Julie Lennard assured MPs that, on the whole, services are running "extremely well" and "not far below normal figures".
A parliamentary question from July 5 revealed that the turnaround time is now between six and ten weeks due to on-site social distancing requirements and the industrial action.
Committee chairman Huw Merriman said: "Along with colleagues in Parliament, I've received pleas for help from constituents desperate to further applications or to retrieve essential documentation from the DVLA.
"Those constituents include coach drivers who require vehicle certification to return to work, learners awaiting probation licences, and people who urgently need their photo identification for work or immigration purposes.
"Excessive delays are not just inconvenient, they are affecting daily life.
"We have invited the key figures to an evidence session to get to the bottom of this issue and understand what needs to be done."
Witnesses at the session will include representatives from the DVLA, the Department for Transport and the PCS.
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