Claire,
When the court gives you a driving ban, they then send your licence to the DVLA with details of your disqualification. Since DVLA is the governing body for driver licensing, they are the ones who will endorse your driving licence with penalty points and details of your offence. Once your ban has expired, you need to make a formal request to the court which sentenced you to have your driving licence back. You may need to appoint a solicitor/lawyer to represent you and will have to pay court fees. If your application is successful, the court will inform DVLA about it. You will then need to fill out a D1 form to send to DVLA to request for licence together with the correct fee. If everything is in order, DVLA will send your licence within 3 weeks of receiving your application.