Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lilian Greenwood and Tracy Gilbert(2 days, 12 hours ago)
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Tracy Gilbert (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Lilian Greenwood)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s top priority is to reduce car practical driving test waiting times while upholding road safety standards. In November 2025, the Government announced that we will change the booking system so that only learner drivers will be able to book and manage tests, with learner drivers limited to two changes to their test. We are also introducing geographical restrictions. In addition, we are utilising military driving examiners. As of December 2025, there were 1,542 full-time equivalent driving examiners in post—the highest number since 2021.
Tracy Gilbert
A number of my constituents have been in touch to share their experience of being unable to book test appointments. These delays have an impact on training, education and employment opportunities. Will my hon. Friend outline what specific steps her Department is taking to reduce the backlog for test appointments at test centres in Scotland?
Lilian Greenwood
Like my hon. Friend, I understand the importance of learners being able to access driving tests, particularly when a driving licence is essential for accessing jobs and training. The upcoming booking system changes, continued recruitment and extra tests through overtime schemes will benefit learners across the whole of Great Britain, including those in Scotland.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Lilian Greenwood and Tracy Gilbert(1 year ago)
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Tracy Gilbert (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Lilian Greenwood)
The Department recognises the critical importance of the east coast main line and has invested £4 billion in a combination of infrastructure enhancements and rolling stock upgrades that will help to deliver journey time, reliability and capacity improvements. The full benefit of this investment will be felt with the introduction of a revised timetable in December 2025. The Department continues to work closely with Network Rail to explore opportunities to improve performance and resilience.
Tracy Gilbert
My constituents have raised concerns about the reliability of services on the east coast main line, with one constituent receiving delay repay compensation for five out of six journeys he took over a two-month period. I welcome the correspondence I have had with the Rail Minister on the action that the Department for Transport is taking with rail partners, including through the east coast digital programme. Will my hon. Friend confirm that the first trains utilising new digital signalling technology will be on the tracks by the end of the year? When does she expect passengers to feel the full benefit of this welcome upgrade?
Lilian Greenwood
The east coast digital programme is delivering digital signalling on 100 miles of the east coast main line. The technology will deliver an inherent improvement to service reliability and uplift performance and capacity across the line, including for my hon. Friend’s constituents. The first trains are forecast to start running under digital signalling from early 2026. The number of services running under digital signalling will increase until the full programme is expected to be complete in the early 2030s.