Recommendation 1

HM Government Accepted

The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented More than 83% of Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) transactions are completed online and the vast majority of people throughout the pandemic had a trouble-free experience. The DVLA already has systems in place to identify and prioritise driving licence applications and will prioritise cases where the DVLA has been provided with evidence that a driving licence or identity documents submitted are required urgently. With additional resource, the DVLA is also triaging drivers’ medical cases to ensure that cases are assessed on receipt so that those that can be, are processed quickly. The DVLA has also changed the way it issues driving licences for those with certain medical conditions to speed up the process and changed the law to allow more medical professionals to provide information. The DVLA also advises customers through letters, emails and other communications that most people can continue to drive while their application is being processed to try and avoid customers mistakenly believing they cannot drive until a decision has been made. The DVLA accepts that some customers were affected by delays over the pandemic, particularly in drivers medical, where the DVLA is very often reliant on responses from medical professionals to make a licensing decision on complex cases. The DVLA tries to expedite responses from medical professionals where possible and encourages customers to also do so. billion in 2019-20. 3.3 The DVLA launched ten new online services during the pandemic, which have encouraged more customers to transact digitally. On average in the last financial year, 6.5 million digital transactions were completed per month, an increase of 400,000 per month from 2019-20. 3.4 The last three years has seen a significant shift to digital services with more than 83% of transactions completed online in 2022-23, up from 74% pre-pandemic. 3.5 The DVLA runs year-round no cost communications through stakeholders, media responses, marketing messages and social media. It has run four paid campaigns promoting online services since the beginning of the pandemic. The Department for Transport (the department) will support the DVLA in gaining the relevant approvals for further paid campaigns to promote the take up and use of online services. 3.6 The DVLA reflects the higher cost of paper transactions by charging more for certain paper applications than the equivalent online channel and will review this. 3.7 While a significant majority of customers use the DVLA’s online channels, there will always be those who need or choose to transact by paper. The Lloyds Bank Essential Digital Skills Report 2022 estimated around 10.2m people lack the skills to transact online. The Office for National Statistics estimates that around 2.4 million people on household incomes under £25,000 do not use the internet.