§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) if he will make a statement on the backlog of unopened post at the DVLA; and what operational problems exist at the DVLA; [99106]
(2) what the current waiting time is for driving licence applications; and if he will make a statement. [99105]
422W
§ Mr. Hill[holding answer 22 November 1999]: Approximately 80,000 items of mail are received at DVLA daily. For security and operational reasons, DVLA post is never opened until the point of processing and therefore there is currently a four to five day queue of unopened mail, which is about normal for the time of year. The level of work awaiting processing is carefully monitored each day.
On the driving licence side, which accounts for 20,000 to 30,000 applications per day, the DVLA undertakes to issue driving licences, including return to the applicant, within three weeks—15 working days—from the date of receipt at the Agency. This three-week standard has been met or bettered consistently throughout the year.
In cases where a driver declares a medical condition—amounting to some 1,100 applications a day—because of the increased complexities the service standard is five weeks for a car licence and seven weeks for a bus or lorry licence. Some current cases in these categories are taking longer. Action is being taken to bring this service up to standard and the position is steadily improving.
There are no exceptional operational difficulties at the Agency. Over the pas 18 months, major changes to both driver and vehicle computer systems have been successfully introduced.