The DVLA
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What is the DVLA?
DVLA is an executive government agency, sponsored by the Department for Transport. It was established to administer driver, licence and vehicle details within Great Britain. All vehicle transactions are carried out by DVLA Swansea.
DVLA stands for Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. The DVLA holds over 50 million driver records in Great Britain and over 40 million registrations of vehicles. Their efforts help them get the right drivers and vehicles taxed and on the road, as simply, safely and efficiently as possible.
DVLA Responsibilities
The DVLA is responsible for:
- recording driver endorsements, disqualifications and medical conditions
- issuing photocard driving licences
- issuing vehicle registration certificates to vehicle keepers
- taking enforcement action against vehicle tax evaders
- registering and issuing tachograph cards
- selling DVLA personalised registrations
- helping the police and intelligence authorities deal with crime
- providing anonymised data to those who have the right to use the service
The DVLA - A Few Facts
- The DVLA’s head office is in Swansea, South Wales including a huge computer centre in Swansea Vale.
- The DVLA hold the details of around 40 million driver and 30 million vehicle licences!
- The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre or DVLC had to computerise about 13 million paper vehicle records, along with 15 million paper driver records!
- Its forerunner the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre was established in 1973 to centralise and computerise the vehicle and driver records then held on paper across 183 separate UK Local Authorities!
- DVLA is an abbreviation of Driver And Vehicle Licensing Agency.
- DVLA have generated £2.5 billion for the treasury since 1989, selling approximately five million registrations
As well as maintaining a database of licensed drivers and registered vehicles, the DVLA handles the issue of driving licences, adds endorsements and penalty points issued by the courts, issues and transfers vehicle registrations, but one of its main functions is the arrangement of collection of Vehicle Excise Duty (VED, also known as ‘Road Tax’ and Road Fund License) and of course sells private registrations (DVLA Number Plates)
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) said it sold 374,968 plates in the 2016/17 year – 39,968 more than in the previous year 2015/16.
DVLA - DIgital Focus
The DVLA is part of the Department for Transport (DfT) and has locations in Swansea and Birmingham. They employ over 6,000 people.
The DVLA has made strides to make their services and information available online.
To contact the DVLA, please visit their site