There have been discussions for years now regarding the paper counterpart being replaced by an online virtual one with a chip on your licence containing all the required data, much like the proposed identity cards that the last government wanted.

DRIVING LICENCES ONLINE

Most people would struggle to find the official document that is meant to keep with the driving licence. But from the middle of next year this will not be needed.

All the information on it – such as speeding points – will be available online. It is one of 25 public services set to go digital by 2015.

A system due to be launched by the DVLA will allow them to access the information through the gov.uk website.

Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said anyone with a driving licence would be able to use the online database while there will be an assisted service for those who find it difficult to use the internet. They will be able to get help from a call centre, library or post office. He suggested that many of the UK’s 40 million drivers would see falls in premiums, “This will enable insurers, for example, to price much more accurately, because they will not have to take anything on trust,” he said.

The paper counterpart to the driving licence photo card is due to be phased out by 2015 while it was announced recently that car tax discs would also be scrapped.

The DVLA said that “although some services cannot be delivered digitally, such as assessing a customer’s fitness to drive, it can improve the processes supporting the delivery of these services through making greater use of digital tools”.

It has not ruled out job cuts at the DVLA headquarters in Swansea.

Initially, the new system will check users’ identities by asking for their postcode and National Insurance number but, in common with other digital government services, it will eventually allow people to use their bank’s system to prove their identity on websites providing government services. 

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