Written question asked by Lord Bradshaw (Liberal Democrat), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Earl Attlee (Conservative) on Wednesday, 16 November 2011.

Driving: Licences

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people held United Kingdom driving licences in 2008, 2009 and 2010; and of these in each year (a) how many had 12 points, (b) how many were disqualified during that year, (c) how many appeals were made against disqualification, (d) how many appeals were upheld and for what reasons, (e) how many had more than 12 points, (f) how many requests there were to reduce the period of disqualification, and (g) how many requests were granted.

Answer: The information requested is not available. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has responsibility only for maintaining the driver records for Great Britain. Although its records show the total number of driver records held for financial years 2008, 2009 and 2010 it does not give a breakdown of how many of these were licensed or unlicensed (eg disqualified, licence expired, etc.) The relevant figures are: 2008-09—43.5 million; 2009-10—43.9 million; and 2010-11—44.2 million The additional information requested is not available. The Ministry of Justice does not hold information centrally on the number of appeals received against disqualification from driving, the subsequent appeal outcomes and their reasons. The requested information could be obtained only through the manual identification and inspection of individual case files held by the courts at disproportionate cost.

Secondary information