From 30 November 2022, the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 will remove the requirement to surrender a driving licence for fixed penalties, conditional offers, and court processes. Individuals who are being prosecuted for a road traffic offence and appear at court should bring their licences with them to court.
Background
In June 2015, the paper counterpart to photocard driving licences were abolished with no physical documents being endorsed. When a person receives penalty points, these have been recorded on the electronic driver record held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). You can check your driving record online, by phone or post.
However, the provisions which abolished the paper counterpart did not remove the requirement to surrender the physical licence as part of court and fixed penalty processes.
What is changing?
The UK Government and other stakeholders considered that the requirement to surrender licences no longer served any practical purpose and created unnecessary administrative burdens for courts, fixed penalty offices, police and motorists.
The provisions of the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, which come into force on 30 November 2022, will remove the requirement to surrender a driving licence from:
- fixed penalties,
- conditional offers, and
- court processes
for road traffic offences.
- Individuals who are being prosecuted for a road traffic offence and appear at court should bring their licences with them to court
These provisions are more particularly set out in sections 91 to 96 and schedules 9 and 10 of the 2022 Act.
In summary, the changes coming into force will:
- require individuals who are being prosecuted for a road traffic offence to bring their licence to court if there is a hearing and if they attend that hearing. The requirement to deliver or post their driving licence to the court before a hearing is removed
- streamline fixed penalty, conditional offer and court procedures for road traffic offences by removing the need for the driving licence to be surrendered except in cases involving disqualification. This will save on the administrative costs of handling any licence and returning it to the individual and it will also save individuals time and money in having to forward the licence
- where an individual wishes to pay a fixed penalty, they must instead provide their name, date of birth and where they area holder of a driving licence, the licence number. This can be done either in person, by post or by telephone
- where, following conviction, the court has only ordered or proposed to order endorsement (e.g penalty points) rather than disqualification, the court must do so without requiring the licence to be produced; and
- enable the DVLA to request that the driving licence (where a new driver has accrued 6 or more penalty points during their probationary period) is surrendered to the Agency as part of its licence revocation notice.
Please note: The court will not be able to accept payment for a fixed penalty if it requires your driving record to be endorsed and the number of points that are to be added would mean that you will have accrued 12 or more penalty points in 3 years.
In these cases, the fixed penalty process cannot be used and you will instead be liable to prosecution.
Further information
Details on how to pay fines including fixed penalties can be found under the Fines Frequently Asked Questions page available here.
The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service staff cannot give you legal advice as they are not legally qualified. If you do need legal advice, the Law Society of Scotland can provide contact details for solicitors in your area. See the Law Society of Scotland website for further information.