Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the operators of helicopter search and rescue services on response times.
Answered by Anthony Browne
As the Rt Hon Member will be aware, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency manages the contract for search and rescue helicopter services on behalf of the Department for Transport, and the ongoing activity related to the future of these services, including response times. Analysis of recent incident data is underway which will be concluded later this year, after which the MCA will provide further updates.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency's plan to recruit 300 additional driving examiners, how many and what proportion of these additional driving instructors were recruited in Scotland as on 20 September 2022.
Answered by Katherine Fletcher
Driver testing services were significantly disrupted during the pandemic, which has led to a high demand for learners who are now wanting to take their driving test.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is working hard to provide as many practical driving test appointments as it can, including recruiting more than 300 driving examiners across Great Britain. The first recovery recruitment campaign was launched on 10 February 2021. Since then, 285 driving examiners have entered testing, of which 20 were in Scottish test centres.
In addition, there are 147 recruits who are in the process of being trained to become driving examiners, of which 18 are for test centres in Scotland.
The DVSA’s examiner recruitment campaigns continue to be successful but, like many employers, the DVSA is finding the job market extremely competitive. As it moves through each recruitment campaign, the DVSA will continually review and make changes and improvements to its recruitment and selection process, and training courses.
On 20 September 2022, the DVSA launched its latest campaign to recruit another 136 driving examiner posts; 8 of these posts are intended for test centres in Scotland.
Since the commencement of the recovery recruitment campaigns, waiting times for car practical driving tests have reduced by 1.5 weeks (based on the DVSA’s data at the end of August 2022).
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the change in the average waiting time for a driving test has been in the period since the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency began its recruitment of 300 additional driving examiners.
Answered by Katherine Fletcher
Driver testing services were significantly disrupted during the pandemic, which has led to a high demand for learners who are now wanting to take their driving test.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is working hard to provide as many practical driving test appointments as it can, including recruiting more than 300 driving examiners across Great Britain. The first recovery recruitment campaign was launched on 10 February 2021. Since then, 285 driving examiners have entered testing, of which 20 were in Scottish test centres.
In addition, there are 147 recruits who are in the process of being trained to become driving examiners, of which 18 are for test centres in Scotland.
The DVSA’s examiner recruitment campaigns continue to be successful but, like many employers, the DVSA is finding the job market extremely competitive. As it moves through each recruitment campaign, the DVSA will continually review and make changes and improvements to its recruitment and selection process, and training courses.
On 20 September 2022, the DVSA launched its latest campaign to recruit another 136 driving examiner posts; 8 of these posts are intended for test centres in Scotland.
Since the commencement of the recovery recruitment campaigns, waiting times for car practical driving tests have reduced by 1.5 weeks (based on the DVSA’s data at the end of August 2022).
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency's plan to recruit 300 additional driving examiners, how many additional driving instructors been recruited as on 20 September 2022.
Answered by Katherine Fletcher
Driver testing services were significantly disrupted during the pandemic, which has led to a high demand for learners who are now wanting to take their driving test.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is working hard to provide as many practical driving test appointments as it can, including recruiting more than 300 driving examiners across Great Britain. The first recovery recruitment campaign was launched on 10 February 2021. Since then, 285 driving examiners have entered testing, of which 20 were in Scottish test centres.
In addition, there are 147 recruits who are in the process of being trained to become driving examiners, of which 18 are for test centres in Scotland.
The DVSA’s examiner recruitment campaigns continue to be successful but, like many employers, the DVSA is finding the job market extremely competitive. As it moves through each recruitment campaign, the DVSA will continually review and make changes and improvements to its recruitment and selection process, and training courses.
On 20 September 2022, the DVSA launched its latest campaign to recruit another 136 driving examiner posts; 8 of these posts are intended for test centres in Scotland.
Since the commencement of the recovery recruitment campaigns, waiting times for car practical driving tests have reduced by 1.5 weeks (based on the DVSA’s data at the end of August 2022).
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency began its recruitment of 300 additional driving examiners.
Answered by Katherine Fletcher
Driver testing services were significantly disrupted during the pandemic, which has led to a high demand for learners who are now wanting to take their driving test.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is working hard to provide as many practical driving test appointments as it can, including recruiting more than 300 driving examiners across Great Britain. The first recovery recruitment campaign was launched on 10 February 2021. Since then, 285 driving examiners have entered testing, of which 20 were in Scottish test centres.
In addition, there are 147 recruits who are in the process of being trained to become driving examiners, of which 18 are for test centres in Scotland.
The DVSA’s examiner recruitment campaigns continue to be successful but, like many employers, the DVSA is finding the job market extremely competitive. As it moves through each recruitment campaign, the DVSA will continually review and make changes and improvements to its recruitment and selection process, and training courses.
On 20 September 2022, the DVSA launched its latest campaign to recruit another 136 driving examiner posts; 8 of these posts are intended for test centres in Scotland.
Since the commencement of the recovery recruitment campaigns, waiting times for car practical driving tests have reduced by 1.5 weeks (based on the DVSA’s data at the end of August 2022).