Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of people awaiting driving tests; and what steps are being taken to increase driving test capacity.

There are currently over 400,000 people with a test booked.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has put in place a number of measures to increase practical driving tests. These include offering overtime and annual leave buy back to examiners, asking all those qualified to conduct tests, but who do not do so as part of their current day job, to return to conducting tests, and conducting out of hours testing (such as on public holidays). The DVSA has also started a recruitment campaign to increase the number of examiners. The aim is to increase testing capacity and reduce the backlog as quickly as possible, whilst maintaining a COVID-secure service for customers and examiners.