Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the annual cost is of running the driving theory test under his Department's contract with Pearson Driving Assessments Ltd; and what estimate he has made of the annual cost of running that test under the contract with Learn Direct from September 2016.

The annual cost of running the Driving Theory Test under the contract with Pearson Professional Assessments Ltd (formerly Pearson Driving Assessments Ltd) in 2015/16 was £31.2 million. This cost was as a result of new contract arrangements, where net costs per test fell from September 2014 and again from September 2015. This resulted in a reduction in fees paid by car candidates from £31 to £25 in October 2014 and to £23 in October 2015.

The estimated cost of running the Driving Theory Test from September 2016 with learndirect was dependent on the future volume of tests and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency estimates that the annual cost with learndirect would have been between £38 million and £42 million.