Written question asked by Lord Lucas (Conservative), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Earl Attlee (Conservative) on Friday, 3 December 2010.

Driving: Licences

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the percentage of occasions when a driver will not find out about the requirement to surrender his licence until he receives a fines notice; how much time he will have after the receipt of that notice to surrender his licence; and what is their estimate of the time between the late surrender of a licence and the re-issue of a driver's licence.

Answer: The information requested in the first part of the Question is not available. A driver who has committed a motoring offence will generally be issued with a fixed penalty notice within 14 days of the offence being committed. This will inform the driver that they have 28 days to accept the penalty and surrender their driving licence for endorsement. If the driver does not accept the fixed penalty or surrender their licence, the case will be prosecuted through the courts. The court will instruct the driver to surrender their licence to the court in advance or bring it with them to the hearing. Within a few days of the hearing, the court notifies the DVLA of the outcome and whether or not the licence was surrendered. If the licence was not surrendered, the DVLA will advise the driver he has a further 28 days to comply before the licence is revoked. Licences surrendered to the DVLA within this 28-day period will be endorsed and returned. A driver who surrenders his licence after the licence has been revoked will have to submit an application to renew his driving entitlement. A new licence will then be issued within 15 days of the application being received at the DVLA.

Secondary information