With the staggered reduction in theory test fees this next article surprises me. Normally a reduction in 1 fee is followed by a hike on another. All I can put this down to is there will be no paper counterpart with the new one.
Driving licence fees are set to fall by up to 32% under plans announced today (28 July 2014) by Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, and Transport 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.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny 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.
Transport Minister Claire Perry said:
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 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 25 August 2014.
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Notes to editors
View the current driving licence fees
Subject to the consultation and parliamentary process the new fees are planned to come into force by 31 October 2014.
The consultation is the first phase in the DVLA review of their fees. The second phase will involve a comprehensive review of the DVLA’s funding and will focus on the way they deliver their services to customers in light of the introduction of further digital services.
