Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what further steps his Department plans to take to reduce the backlog in driving tests, in the context of current waiting times.

Since April 2021, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has created over one million extra car test appointments by recruiting new examiners, conducting out-of-hours testing, such as on public holidays and weekends, 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 asking recently retired driving examiners to return. On average, this has created approximately 40,000 extra car test appointments each month.

As of 17 July 2023, there were 544,028 car practical driving tests booked, and 36,523 driving tests available within the 24-week booking window.