Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the timeliness of the next available date to take a practical driving test for (a) car, (b) HGV, (c) motorcycle and (d) tractor in North Herefordshire.

The Driver and Vehicle Standard Agency’s (DVSA) priority is to keep candidates, examiners and instructors safe. It has measures in place to increase testing capacity as quickly as possible, whilst maintaining a COVID-secure service. To help reduce the backlog of driving tests, the DVSA advises candidates to only come to test when ready, and to be flexible in their choice of test centre; a test ready candidate should be capable of passing the test anywhere, not just on roads they are familiar with.

As at 17 May 2021, the number of people on the waiting list for a practical car driving test: (a) England 398,609 (b) Herefordshire (Hereford driving test centre) 812 (c) North Herefordshire (Ludlow driving test centre) 744.

As at 17 May 2021, the average waiting time for a practical driving test: (a) England 14 weeks (b) Herefordshire (Hereford Driving test centre) 10 weeks (c) North Herefordshire (Ludlow driving test centre) 15 weeks.

As at 17 May 2021, the next available date to take a practical driving test in North Herefordshire is: (a) 13 weeks for car (b) 3 weeks for HGV (c) 1 week for motorcycle (no motorcycle provision in North Herefordshire but Worcester, Gloucester and Shrewsbury are all 1 week) (d) 13 weeks for tractor.

As at 17 May 2021, the next available date to take a practical driving test in England is: (a) 13.4 weeks for car (b) 8.6 weeks for HGV (c) 7 weeks for motorcycle (d) 14 weeks for tractor.