Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

"DVLA" redirects here. For the Ghanaian equivalent, see Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority.
Not to be confused with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency or the Driver and Vehicle Agency in Northern Ireland.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

The DVLA in Swansea
Agency overview
Formed1965; 59 years ago (1965)
TypeExecutive agency
JurisdictionUnited Kingdom
HeadquartersSwansea, Wales
Agency executive
  • Julie Lennard, Chief Executive Officer
Parent agencyDepartment for Transport
Websitewww.gov.uk/dvla Edit this at Wikidata

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA; Welsh: Asiantaeth Trwyddedu Gyrwyr a Cherbydau) is the organisation of the British government responsible for maintaining a database of drivers in Great Britain and a database of vehicles for the entire United Kingdom. Its counterpart for drivers in Northern Ireland is the Driver and Vehicle Agency. The agency issues driving licences, organises collection of vehicle excise duty (also known as road tax[1] and road fund licence) and sells personalised registrations.

The DVLA is an executive agency of the Department for Transport. The current Chief Executive of the agency is Julie (Karen) Lennard.[2]

The DVLA is based in Swansea, Wales, with a prominent 16-storey building in Clase and offices in Swansea Vale. It was previously known as the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre. The agency previously had a network of 39 offices around Great Britain, known as the Local Office Network, where users could attend to apply for licences and transact other business, but throughout the course of 2013, the local offices were gradually closed down, and all had been closed by December 2013. The agency's work is consequently fully centralised in Swansea, with the majority of users having to transact remotely – by post or (for some transactions) by phone.[3]

DVLA introduced Electronic Vehicle Licensing in 2004, allowing customers to pay vehicle excise duty online and by telephone.[4] However, customers still have the option to tax their vehicles via the Post Office. A seven-year contract enabling the Post Office to continue to process car tax applications was agreed in November 2012, with the option of a three-year extension.[5]

  1. ^ baua. "DVLA Free Car Check – Tax, MOT, Vehicle info". Bauaelectric Auto News. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  2. ^ "Julie Lennard was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of DVLA in May 2018". DVLA. 23 May 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "DVLA local office closure plan announced". DVLA. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  4. ^ "Freedom of Information Request relating to EVL". dft.gov.uk. Department for Transport. Archived from the original on 18 December 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  5. ^ "Post Office wins DVLA contract for car tax supply". BBC News. 13 November 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2013.