The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has been accused by a Scottish driver of discriminating against the disabled. The UK Government agency has struggled to keep up with demand since the start of the covid pandemic, and has been criticised for long wait times for licences.
As reported by Birmingham Live, the DVLA has again come under fire from MPs and drivers for issues they have faced dealing with the agency. Disabled motorists have criticised it for leaving them without a licence for months, and therefore unable to drive.
Some drivers with a disability or medical condition are required to undergo an assessment from the DVLA before they are able to receive a licence. Fife driver Jennifer Kirchacz has epilepsy but states that she meets the required criteria to receive a licence.
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The 17-year-old driver has waited for seven months to be able to drive. Her mum Julie Brownlie said: “I’m all for them checking with the specialists, but they need to do it in timely way and not discriminate against people who have a condition.
“I can understand a few days longer for processing, but to wait seven months to send a form that needs to be filled in – that’s just ridiculous.”
SNP MP for Glenrothes & Central Fife Peter Grant revealed that he is aware of a case of a driver waiting 10 months for a licence, as well as "quite a few" cases of drivers having to wait for six months and of "several" drivers losing conditional job offers as a result of the long waiting times. Speaking to the PA news agency he said: “It’s having a real impact on people’s lives.”
According to the DVLA, before the start of the pandemic there were approximately 400,000 applications being processed at any given moment, but this has since soared to more than 900,000. The agency stated that the number of paper applications peaked at 1.6 million last September.
A DVLA spokesperson said: “Our online services are working as normal and without delay. We handle millions of transactions every year and are currently issuing 200,000 driving licences each week.
"However, where we require additional information, such as from a driver’s doctor or where we need to refer the driver for an assessment, we would be wholly reliant on receiving this information before a decision can be made. Once a driver has submitted their application, they may be able to continue to drive while we are processing it, provided they have not been told by their doctor or optician they should not drive.
“We have recruited more staff, have increased overtime and opened new customer service centres in Swansea and Birmingham to help reduce waiting times for customers.”
