Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the waiting times for category C1 driving tests.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is doing it all it can to increase the number of vocational tests available and has put in place a number of measures to do this. 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 and weekends).

The DVSA has also started a recruitment campaign to increase the number of examiners. It will also continue its training programme to enable more examiners to conduct vocational tests.

The DVSA has held initial discussions with representatives from the heavy goods vehicle (HGV) training industry to develop plans for training schools to take on the responsibility of signing-off the manoeuvre elements of the practical test. Adopting this approach would allow the DVSA to focus on the on-road element and to increase practical test throughput.

The DVSA is also reviewing the way it delivers car and trailer testing to enable the agency to prioritise HGV testing.