Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential benefits of (a) increasing the number of driving test examiners and (b) introducing a greater number of out-of-hours tests.

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 18 December last year, DVSA published measures to bring down car practical driving test waiting times across the country. This included the recruitment of driving examiners (DEs), and DVSA continues to run recruitment campaigns as part of this.

On the 23 April, the Secretary of State for Transport appeared before the Transport Select Committee and announced that DVSA will take further actions including the reintroduction of overtime pay incentives, and a call for volunteers from those currently in other roles (but qualified to examine) to carry out practical driving tests.

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.

DVSA is committed to providing its customers, including those in rural areas, with the best service possible. DVSA continually reviews its estate to ensure it represents good value for money and is efficient.