The DVLA has been criticised after a report revealed that more than 90,000 people with medical conditions had to wait more than a year for a new driving licence.
Following a hefty backlog caused by the Covid pandemic, many medical licensing cases since April 2020 have been delayed, which has resulted in 91,000 applications taking more than 12 months to sort. From April 2020 to September this year, 36 per cent of medical licensing cases took longer than 90 working days – and six per cent took longer than 250 working days, revealed the National Audit Office.
Public Accounts Committee chair Meg Hillier said the DVLA was “unprepared” for Covid and “ordinary citizens paid the price” with “unacceptable delays”. Applications could actually grind to a halt again this winter – as union chiefs announce on Thursday (November 10) if DVLA staff have decided to strike over pay, reports the Mirror.
