Driving licence fees are set to fall by up to 32% under plans announced today (July 28, 2014) by Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander and Roads Minister Claire Perry.
The proposals are contained in a public consultation on driver licensing fees. The consultation sets out a proposed reduction in driving licence fees of 32% for digital transactions and 15% for paper applications.
As part of the proposals, drivers who apply online for their first driving licence would see the fee drop from £50 to £34. Drivers who renew their licence after 10 years would see the fee drop from £20 to £14. All driver tachograph cards would fall from £38 to £32.
Alexander said: “I have been working hard to drive savings across the whole public sector and it’s great to see the benefit of these efficiencies feed through to drivers and businesses pockets. What the DVLA have shown today is that you can do more for less.”
Perry added: “The cost of driving can be significant, especially for new drivers. I’m pleased to say that we are planning to save drivers £18m a year by cutting licence fees, thanks to the DVLA making significant savings to their running costs.”
The proposals are set to save drivers nearly £18 million, claims the DfT, and the industry around £2 million every year. DVLA is currently reviewing all the fees they charge to motorists and the consultation launched today is the first step in this ongoing review.
The consultation closes on August 25, 2014.
Carl Nicholson - 28/07/2014 10:46
The transformation at the DVLA that I have had the privilege of seeing first hand should be applauded. The rate and methods being used at that this organisation to transform it into a customer focused and driven agency is changing for the service for the better, it will eventually help every fleet in the land go about its business with much greater ease in future. The removal of the archaic tax disc and the abolition of the driver licence counter part are just the tip of the iceberg. Its not often you get to praise a government run agency but we really should be in this case. (Not affiliated with the DVLA in any way!)