Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May to Question 184467 on Driving Tests, how many accounts have been closed by the DVSA for breaching the terms and conditions relating to the booking of practical driving tests.

Details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations are published every quarter and this information can be accessed on the GOV.UK website via the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dft-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings

The national average waiting time for a car practical driving test since January 2023 is 17.1 weeks.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is aware that some companies have been using bots to snap up appointments on its public booking service, as soon as they become available, leaving fewer test appointments for genuine learner drivers to purchase directly from the DVSA.

The DVSA does not employ, encourage or licence anyone to provide such a cancellation service checking for newly open slots. These apps or bots are not approved by the DVSA as they make it harder for candidates to get a test and can result in people paying more for a test than the official test fee. Using such services also means that any changes to the test may not necessarily be relayed to the candidate.

To ensure its booking system is used correctly, the DVSA has:

- stopped accepting new automatic online registrations to use its tests booking service – any new applications must be made by email, where they will be thoroughly checked by the DVSA.

- stopped accepting any new registrations from companies who do not directly employ a driving instructor.

- removed registrations not linked to driving instructors.

- reduced the number of times a driving test appointment can be changed from 10 to the pre-pandemic limit of 6 and updated the test booking service terms and conditions to make it clear that users must not book tests and sell them for profit.

Following these changes, there has been a significant drop in traffic to these services because the DVSA is successfully identifying and blocking apps or bots.

Users found breaching the terms and conditions may have their accounts closed. In June 2022, the DVSA stopped customers registering for online business service (OBS) accounts and added the requirement for an approved driving instructor (ADI) to be associated with businesses that booked car tests. The DVSA removed around 7,000 unused business that did not have an ADI associated with them. At this point, the DVSA did not close any duplicate businesses.

Since May 2023, the DVSA has investigated business that appear to have multiple OBS accounts. Overall, 255 business have been investigated across 8 cases.

This has resulted in:

• 197 businesses closed
• 6 business providing sufficient evidence of their independence and reinstated
• 52 businesses remain suspended pending investigation

The DVSA does not hold the number of driving tests that have been booked by automated bots.

The DVSA is continuing to take steps to block cancellation services from accessing the booking system. These applications, however, are constantly evolving and changing, and the DVSA’s work on this is ongoing.