Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has identified any driving test centres with unusually high rates of suspected impersonation.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
To ensure Great Britain’s roads remain among the safest in the world, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has robust measures in place to stop people using false identities when taking a driving test, to prevent illegitimate licences being issued.
At the start of the driving test, all driving examiners (DE) carry out thorough identification and documentation checks to satisfy themselves of the person’s identity, the validity of the driving licence and theory test pass certificate.
To make it harder for fraudsters to impersonate a candidate, DVSA has worked in partnership with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to give DEs access to an enlarged photograph of the candidate, as shown on the driving licence, to help the examiner decide if the person presenting for test is the correct candidate. If a candidate fails to satisfy the examiner that they have complied with the requirements, the examiner will, under legislation, refuse to take the test.
DVSA takes very seriously any allegations of fraudulent activity, including candidate impersonation. It has a dedicated Intelligence Threat Hub for the assessment of available information, prioritisation of investigations, and a dedicated counter fraud team to investigate such allegations.
Due to the nature of impersonation, there is not a high level at a single location, as an impersonator would be easily identified as such, if they attempted to take several tests at a single location. DVSA uses other data, such as details of the vehicle used by a suspected impersonator, to track and investigate attempts across the country.
The table below shows the number of intercepted impersonation attempts for driving practical tests from 1 October 2020 to 30 September 2025. Interceptions are where DVSA colleagues have challenged the impersonator and stopped the test or a licence has been revoked if evidence of impersonation comes to light later.
Please note, practical test impersonations were included in general impersonation figures until 2021, therefore DVSA has no individual figures for this category between 2018-2020.
Date period | Practical Test Impersonations |
1/10/2024 to 30/09/2025 | 647 |
1/10/2023 to 30/09/2024 | 388 |
1/10/2022 to 30/09/2023 | 442 |
1/10/2021 to 30/09/2022 | 146 |
1/10/2020 to 30/09/2021 | 0 |
As a civil service department, DVSA has certain principles and processes that must be followed, and all employees must meet the standards of conduct and behaviour set out in the Civil Service code and the DVSA’s Staff handbook.
Effective performance is expected of all employees. Addressing poor performance fairly, effectively and promptly is critical to maintaining a professional service, and DVSA, as with other civil service departments, has poor performance policy and guidance in place.
The role of a DE is complex and requires rigorous training. There is a statutory requirement for DEs to undertake continuous professional development to ensure they maintain their skills. All DEs go through an extensive training regime and attend regular periodic training. This ensures they carry out all of the test properly. In addition, there is a robust monitoring system in place and DE performance is regularly assessed.
As civil servants, DEs, are required to undertake fraud awareness training and regular refresher training on this topic.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what training and refresher courses are provided to driving test examiners to spot impersonation attempts.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
To ensure Great Britain’s roads remain among the safest in the world, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has robust measures in place to stop people using false identities when taking a driving test, to prevent illegitimate licences being issued.
At the start of the driving test, all driving examiners (DE) carry out thorough identification and documentation checks to satisfy themselves of the person’s identity, the validity of the driving licence and theory test pass certificate.
To make it harder for fraudsters to impersonate a candidate, DVSA has worked in partnership with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to give DEs access to an enlarged photograph of the candidate, as shown on the driving licence, to help the examiner decide if the person presenting for test is the correct candidate. If a candidate fails to satisfy the examiner that they have complied with the requirements, the examiner will, under legislation, refuse to take the test.
DVSA takes very seriously any allegations of fraudulent activity, including candidate impersonation. It has a dedicated Intelligence Threat Hub for the assessment of available information, prioritisation of investigations, and a dedicated counter fraud team to investigate such allegations.
Due to the nature of impersonation, there is not a high level at a single location, as an impersonator would be easily identified as such, if they attempted to take several tests at a single location. DVSA uses other data, such as details of the vehicle used by a suspected impersonator, to track and investigate attempts across the country.
The table below shows the number of intercepted impersonation attempts for driving practical tests from 1 October 2020 to 30 September 2025. Interceptions are where DVSA colleagues have challenged the impersonator and stopped the test or a licence has been revoked if evidence of impersonation comes to light later.
Please note, practical test impersonations were included in general impersonation figures until 2021, therefore DVSA has no individual figures for this category between 2018-2020.
Date period | Practical Test Impersonations |
1/10/2024 to 30/09/2025 | 647 |
1/10/2023 to 30/09/2024 | 388 |
1/10/2022 to 30/09/2023 | 442 |
1/10/2021 to 30/09/2022 | 146 |
1/10/2020 to 30/09/2021 | 0 |
As a civil service department, DVSA has certain principles and processes that must be followed, and all employees must meet the standards of conduct and behaviour set out in the Civil Service code and the DVSA’s Staff handbook.
Effective performance is expected of all employees. Addressing poor performance fairly, effectively and promptly is critical to maintaining a professional service, and DVSA, as with other civil service departments, has poor performance policy and guidance in place.
The role of a DE is complex and requires rigorous training. There is a statutory requirement for DEs to undertake continuous professional development to ensure they maintain their skills. All DEs go through an extensive training regime and attend regular periodic training. This ensures they carry out all of the test properly. In addition, there is a robust monitoring system in place and DE performance is regularly assessed.
As civil servants, DEs, are required to undertake fraud awareness training and regular refresher training on this topic.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing new technologies including biometric checks and digital verification to strengthen identity checks at driving test centres.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
To ensure Great Britain’s roads remain among the safest in the world, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has robust measures in place to stop people using false identities when taking a driving test, to prevent illegitimate licences being issued.
At the start of the driving test, all driving examiners (DE) carry out thorough identification and documentation checks to satisfy themselves of the person’s identity, the validity of the driving licence and theory test pass certificate.
To make it harder for fraudsters to impersonate a candidate, DVSA has worked in partnership with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to give DEs access to an enlarged photograph of the candidate, as shown on the driving licence, to help the examiner decide if the person presenting for test is the correct candidate. If a candidate fails to satisfy the examiner that they have complied with the requirements, the examiner will, under legislation, refuse to take the test.
DVSA takes very seriously any allegations of fraudulent activity, including candidate impersonation. It has a dedicated Intelligence Threat Hub for the assessment of available information, prioritisation of investigations, and a dedicated counter fraud team to investigate such allegations.
Due to the nature of impersonation, there is not a high level at a single location, as an impersonator would be easily identified as such, if they attempted to take several tests at a single location. DVSA uses other data, such as details of the vehicle used by a suspected impersonator, to track and investigate attempts across the country.
The table below shows the number of intercepted impersonation attempts for driving practical tests from 1 October 2020 to 30 September 2025. Interceptions are where DVSA colleagues have challenged the impersonator and stopped the test or a licence has been revoked if evidence of impersonation comes to light later.
Please note, practical test impersonations were included in general impersonation figures until 2021, therefore DVSA has no individual figures for this category between 2018-2020.
Date period | Practical Test Impersonations |
1/10/2024 to 30/09/2025 | 647 |
1/10/2023 to 30/09/2024 | 388 |
1/10/2022 to 30/09/2023 | 442 |
1/10/2021 to 30/09/2022 | 146 |
1/10/2020 to 30/09/2021 | 0 |
As a civil service department, DVSA has certain principles and processes that must be followed, and all employees must meet the standards of conduct and behaviour set out in the Civil Service code and the DVSA’s Staff handbook.
Effective performance is expected of all employees. Addressing poor performance fairly, effectively and promptly is critical to maintaining a professional service, and DVSA, as with other civil service departments, has poor performance policy and guidance in place.
The role of a DE is complex and requires rigorous training. There is a statutory requirement for DEs to undertake continuous professional development to ensure they maintain their skills. All DEs go through an extensive training regime and attend regular periodic training. This ensures they carry out all of the test properly. In addition, there is a robust monitoring system in place and DE performance is regularly assessed.
As civil servants, DEs, are required to undertake fraud awareness training and regular refresher training on this topic.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking with police forces to detect and prosecute organised fraud rings involved in impersonation during driving tests.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
To ensure Great Britain’s roads remain among the safest in the world, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has robust measures in place to stop people using false identities when taking a driving test, to prevent illegitimate licences being issued.
At the start of the driving test, all driving examiners (DE) carry out thorough identification and documentation checks to satisfy themselves of the person’s identity, the validity of the driving licence and theory test pass certificate.
To make it harder for fraudsters to impersonate a candidate, DVSA has worked in partnership with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to give DEs access to an enlarged photograph of the candidate, as shown on the driving licence, to help the examiner decide if the person presenting for test is the correct candidate. If a candidate fails to satisfy the examiner that they have complied with the requirements, the examiner will, under legislation, refuse to take the test.
DVSA takes very seriously any allegations of fraudulent activity, including candidate impersonation. It has a dedicated Intelligence Threat Hub for the assessment of available information, prioritisation of investigations, and a dedicated counter fraud team to investigate such allegations.
Due to the nature of impersonation, there is not a high level at a single location, as an impersonator would be easily identified as such, if they attempted to take several tests at a single location. DVSA uses other data, such as details of the vehicle used by a suspected impersonator, to track and investigate attempts across the country.
The table below shows the number of intercepted impersonation attempts for driving practical tests from 1 October 2020 to 30 September 2025. Interceptions are where DVSA colleagues have challenged the impersonator and stopped the test or a licence has been revoked if evidence of impersonation comes to light later.
Please note, practical test impersonations were included in general impersonation figures until 2021, therefore DVSA has no individual figures for this category between 2018-2020.
Date period | Practical Test Impersonations |
1/10/2024 to 30/09/2025 | 647 |
1/10/2023 to 30/09/2024 | 388 |
1/10/2022 to 30/09/2023 | 442 |
1/10/2021 to 30/09/2022 | 146 |
1/10/2020 to 30/09/2021 | 0 |
As a civil service department, DVSA has certain principles and processes that must be followed, and all employees must meet the standards of conduct and behaviour set out in the Civil Service code and the DVSA’s Staff handbook.
Effective performance is expected of all employees. Addressing poor performance fairly, effectively and promptly is critical to maintaining a professional service, and DVSA, as with other civil service departments, has poor performance policy and guidance in place.
The role of a DE is complex and requires rigorous training. There is a statutory requirement for DEs to undertake continuous professional development to ensure they maintain their skills. All DEs go through an extensive training regime and attend regular periodic training. This ensures they carry out all of the test properly. In addition, there is a robust monitoring system in place and DE performance is regularly assessed.
As civil servants, DEs, are required to undertake fraud awareness training and regular refresher training on this topic.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will publish annual statistics on the number of impersonation and fraud attempts in driving tests.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
To ensure Great Britain’s roads remain among the safest in the world, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has robust measures in place to stop people using false identities when taking a driving test, to prevent illegitimate licences being issued.
At the start of the driving test, all driving examiners (DE) carry out thorough identification and documentation checks to satisfy themselves of the person’s identity, the validity of the driving licence and theory test pass certificate.
To make it harder for fraudsters to impersonate a candidate, DVSA has worked in partnership with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to give DEs access to an enlarged photograph of the candidate, as shown on the driving licence, to help the examiner decide if the person presenting for test is the correct candidate. If a candidate fails to satisfy the examiner that they have complied with the requirements, the examiner will, under legislation, refuse to take the test.
DVSA takes very seriously any allegations of fraudulent activity, including candidate impersonation. It has a dedicated Intelligence Threat Hub for the assessment of available information, prioritisation of investigations, and a dedicated counter fraud team to investigate such allegations.
Due to the nature of impersonation, there is not a high level at a single location, as an impersonator would be easily identified as such, if they attempted to take several tests at a single location. DVSA uses other data, such as details of the vehicle used by a suspected impersonator, to track and investigate attempts across the country.
The table below shows the number of intercepted impersonation attempts for driving practical tests from 1 October 2020 to 30 September 2025. Interceptions are where DVSA colleagues have challenged the impersonator and stopped the test or a licence has been revoked if evidence of impersonation comes to light later.
Please note, practical test impersonations were included in general impersonation figures until 2021, therefore DVSA has no individual figures for this category between 2018-2020.
Date period | Practical Test Impersonations |
1/10/2024 to 30/09/2025 | 647 |
1/10/2023 to 30/09/2024 | 388 |
1/10/2022 to 30/09/2023 | 442 |
1/10/2021 to 30/09/2022 | 146 |
1/10/2020 to 30/09/2021 | 0 |
As a civil service department, DVSA has certain principles and processes that must be followed, and all employees must meet the standards of conduct and behaviour set out in the Civil Service code and the DVSA’s Staff handbook.
Effective performance is expected of all employees. Addressing poor performance fairly, effectively and promptly is critical to maintaining a professional service, and DVSA, as with other civil service departments, has poor performance policy and guidance in place.
The role of a DE is complex and requires rigorous training. There is a statutory requirement for DEs to undertake continuous professional development to ensure they maintain their skills. All DEs go through an extensive training regime and attend regular periodic training. This ensures they carry out all of the test properly. In addition, there is a robust monitoring system in place and DE performance is regularly assessed.
As civil servants, DEs, are required to undertake fraud awareness training and regular refresher training on this topic.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the number of (a) collisions and (b) offences that have later been linked to drivers found to have obtained licences fraudulently in the last five years.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The requested information is not held by the Department.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the value of outstanding Dartford Crossing fines for foreign HGV drivers.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department does not release this information on the grounds that it could prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs by undermining the collection of Dart Charge.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for the total number of people, broken by nationality, on the Department's Person of Interest List concerning individuals involved with taking payment to take driving tests on a third party's behalf.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) does not capture any information on nationalities at either the theory or practical driving tests.
The DVSA has robust measures in place to stop people using false identities when taking a driving test.
At the start of the driving test, all driving examiners carry out thorough identification and documentation checks to satisfy themselves of the person’s identity, and the validity of the driving licence and theory test pass certificate.
To make it harder for fraudsters to impersonate a candidate, DVSA has worked in partnership with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to give driving examiners access to an enlarged photograph of the candidate, as shown on the driving licence, to help the examiner decide if the person presenting for a test is the correct candidate. If a candidate fails to satisfy the examiner that they have complied with the requirements, the examiner will, under legislation, refuse to take the test.
DVSA takes very seriously any allegations of fraudulent activity, including candidate impersonation. It has a dedicated Intelligence Threat Hub to enable assessment of all information available and prioritisation of investigations, and a dedicated counter fraud and intelligence team to investigate such allegations.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 19 November 2025 to question 91631 on Motor Vehicles: Insurance, if she will make it the Department’s policy to collect data on (i) the number and proportion of collisions involving uninsured drivers that were caused by non-UK citizens and (ii) the number of uninsured drivers that are non-UK citizens.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The department currently has no plans to collect this data. As outlined in my response on data held about uninsured drivers, the Road Traffic Act 1988 requires all drivers to have third party insurance cover and measures are in place to deter uninsured driving.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the total number and proportion of road collisions involving uninsured drivers that were caused by non-UK citizens in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
My Department does not hold the number and proportion of collisions involving uninsured drivers that were caused by non-UK citizens. Nor do we have information on the number of uninsured drivers that are non-UK citizens.
The Road Traffic Act 1988 requires all drivers to have third party insurance cover. The Government takes uninsured driving seriously. Police forces work closely with the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) to tackle this. This collaborates through Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE), a scheme where MIB and DVLA collaborate to identify uninsured drivers, police enforcement on the road and through Operation Tutelage.