Part 2: Other measures relating to business Goods, passenger and public service vehicles Section 15: Temporary reduction in duration of certain driving licences: Northern Ireland
Section 15 makes provision for Northern Ireland corresponding to the provision made for Great Britain by section 14. It is about the duration of driving licences granted in Northern Ireland to drivers of some classes of goods vehicles and some classes of passenger-carrying vehicles.
	Section 15 would enable driving licences lasting 1 year to be granted to drivers aged 45 to 65 without them sending in a medical report with their licence application. These drivers would usually be able to get a 5-year licence (or a licence lasting until their 66th birthday if shorter) but they may be unable get one because they cannot obtain the required medical report. This is because of restrictions on access to medical practitioners as a result of Covid-19.
	Section 15 applies to driving licences whose duration is set by Article 15(2)(a) of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981. Article 15(2)(a) applies where a licence comes into force on or before the applicant’s 65th birthday. It covers licences for driving the categories of vehicles prescribed in regulation 38(2) of the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996.
	Regulation 7(7) of those Regulations allows the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland to require a driving licence application to be accompanied by a medical report. In the case of the licences to which Article 15(2)(a) applies, the Department’s practice is to require a medical report to be sent in where the application is for the applicant’s first driving licence for a particular vehicle class or is for renewal by an applicant whose 45th birthday will have been reached by the time the renewed licence comes into operation.
	Section 15(1) specifies that the duration of driving licences to which the section applies will be 1 year instead of the period of up to 5 years that would otherwise apply under Article 15(2)(a).
	Section 15(2) provides that the section applies to only some of the driving licences whose duration would otherwise be set by Article 15(2)(a). In particular, a driver will not be able to get more than one 1-year driving licence granted without a medical report for any particular class of vehicle.
	Also, as the Department proposes to continue to require a medical report for a first-time licence for a particular vehicle class, 1-year licences without a medical report will in practice all be renewals. Because of this, and because the Department has not already issued any 1-year licences in anticipation of this legislation, section 15 applies only to licences granted on or after 1 August 2020. This ties in with licences that expired on or after 1 February 2020 having been extended by 7 months by EU Regulation 2020/698. Accordingly, the Department would be able to use August 2020 to start granting 1-year renewal licences to come into operation when the 7-month extensions start to expire in September 2020.
	Limiting section 15 to applicants who will have reached their 45th birthday keeps this section in line with the corresponding provision for Great Britain, as the existing relevant legislation for Great Britain already distinguishes between drivers who have not reached 45 and those who are 45 to 65.
	Section 15(3) would cover a driver who, within a year of being granted a driving licence in reliance on a medical report, applies to be additionally licensed for a class of vehicle to which Article 15(2)(a) applies. A licence granted to the driver for that additional class will have its normal duration, even if granted without a fresh medical report being required.