Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he will take to (a) improve response rates to calls to the DVLA and (b) ensure that key workers are able to book a driving test.

(a) The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has reconfigured one of its buildings to create additional space for contact centre staff and installed screens to maximise the number of staff answering calls. The contact centre’s opening hours have increased at weekends and will shortly be increasing during the working week.

(b) The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is responsible for driving tests. It has added extra call taking capacity to improve response rates. The practical driving test service is now open to all driving test candidates including key workers.