Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of available driving tests in Ribble Valley constituency.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times.

On the 23 April, the Secretary of State for Transport appeared before the Transport Select Committee and announced that DVSA will take further actions to reduce driving test waiting times across the country.

Further information on these actions and progress on the plan can be found on GOV.UK at: www.gov.uk/government/news/transport-secretary-acts-to-make-thousands-of-extra-driving-tests-available-each-month.

The driving test centres that serve candidates in the Ribble Valley are Blackburn, Nelson, Skipton and Preston. Blackburn and Nelson are part of the same cluster of centres. From recruitment campaigns, DVSA has recruited two new entrant driving examiners (DE) and offered a further four DEs a position for this cluster. Following successful completion of training the new entrant DEs will be in post late autumn. A further DE has also been offered a post in Skipton. After successful completion of training, they will also be in post by late autumn.