The BMA has negotiated an increase in the fees paid by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to doctors submitting fitness-to-drive medical evidence.
Following months of negotiations with the DVLA, the union’s professional fees committee said that from 2026 the fees for DVLA questionnaires will increase for the first time since 2012.
This covers work undertaken by GPs and consultants for the DVLA for the provision of medical information to support their consideration of fitness to drive for drivers who have notified the agency of a medical condition.
The fees increases are as follows:
- Effective 1 January 2026: The Standard questionnaire will rise to £50, harmonising both GP and consultant fees at this figure. This rate will apply until 31 March 2026.
- Effective 1 April 2026: The Standard questionnaire for both GP and consultant fees will increase to a rate of £62.50.
- Effective 1 April 2027 and 1 April 2028: An annual uplift will apply in line with CPI inflation (measured in the previous September) to the Standard questionnaire fee, capped at 5%.
Should inflation exceed 5%, a review and agreement on the fee uplift will be required, the BMA added.
The committee said that doctors should ensure that all completed forms are returned to DVLA ‘within four to six weeks’.
Committee chair Dr Rob Barnett said: ‘This fee increase is a recognition of the fact the level of professional fees payable to doctors by the DVLA were no longer economic and had not increased since 2012.
‘Furthermore, as this type of work is a non-NHS service and their completion is not part of the NHS contracts of employment, we made it clear that the fee for the work must cover the cost of provision and procurement of service as well as reward for effort, skill and responsibility.’
The committee agreed to adopt a measure in fee negotiations that would be both ‘seen as credible by the Government’ and ‘easy to understand by members’, Dr Barnett added.
He said: ‘The committee agreed to adopt the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as the measure to use to uplift figures since the last rise.
‘The £62.50 fee is CPI added to the last fee agreed in 2012. We are also pleased that there will not be any disparity between the rates for consultants and GPs.’
In 2022, the law changed to enable more healthcare professionals to complete DVLA medical questionnaires ‘on behalf of doctors’.
A version of this article was first published by our sister title Pulse
