Driving Licences

HC Deb 19 January 1995 vol 252 cc615-6W

Mr. William Ross

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what information will appear on the new plastic card type driving licence when it is introduced; what will be the dimensions of the card; and what plans he has to make the new style licence common throughout(a) the United Kingdom and (b) the European Community countries.

Mr. Moss

There has been a plastic card to accompany the NI driving licence since 1985. I will be launching a new style credit card size plastic card later this month. The information which will appear on the new style card is as follows:—surname, main forename, date and town of birth, date of expiry, driver number, sample signature and photograph of holder. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in Swansea plans to introduce a plastic card in the UK from 1 July 1996. It is up to each individual member state to decide how best to meet EU requirements on driving licences.

Mr. William Ross

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what was the original time scale for the introduction of a plastic card type driving licence in Northern Ireland; and when he now expects it to be introduced.

Mr. Moss

There has been a plastic photographic counterpart to accompany the Northern Ireland driving licence since 1985. A new style credit card size plastic card is being launched in Northern Ireland later this

TEC Budgets 1991–92 1994–95
	1991–92 £ million	1992–93 £ million	1993–94 £ million	1994–95 £ million
Hampshire	32.00	34.13	37.18	35.51
Heart of England	10.5.0	12.18	12.89	13.33
Isle of Wight	4.30	4.26	4.79	4.55
Kent	31.60	35.13	41.17	37.30
Milton Keynes and North Buckinghamshire	7.10	8.04	10.74	10.54
Surrey	13.30	13.83	15.18	14.72
Sussex	24.20	27.16	28.52	28.40
Thames Valley Enterprise	19.60	21.21	29.22	31.90
Aztec	11.10	11.73	15.76	13.93
Centec	12.70	24.24	31.30	28.36
Cilntec	9.10	22.62	29.24	24.78
London East	28.70	35.9	47.73	42.70

month. Further changes may be required to meet the requirements of the second EC directive on driver licensing which will come into effect on 1 July 1996. The final format of the licence is still under discussion.

Mr. William Ross

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for what reasons the paper part of the Northern Ireland driving licence was increased in size when the European Communities model was introduced, and not designed so that it could be folded down to the dimensions of the former licence.

Mr. Moss

The size of the paper part of the NI driving licence is subject to the requirements of the first EC directive on driver licensing. It was increased in size from January 1991 to meet those requirements and to accommodate the inclusion of lorry and bus entitlements. The paper part of the NI driving licence is the same size as the GB licence. The design of the paper part so that it could fold to the dimensions of the former licence was constrained by the fact that it had to comply with the 1 st EC directive.