§ Mr. Wheelerasked the Minister of Transport what is the current waiting time for a driving test in the Metropolitan 97W traffic area; how many people are waiting to take the test; how many examiners are employed in the area; how many vacant places exist for examiners; and how this situation compares with that 12 months ago.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeIn most traffic areas we are beginning to reverse the rising trend in waiting periods which we inherited. I regret we have not yet been able to do so in the Metropolitan traffic area. The estimated average wait there is 37 weeks compared with 28½ weeks 12 months ago, and an estimated 264,000 applicants are awaiting tests compared with 182,600 then. A special recruitment drive is in progress to deal with the serious situation in this traffic area. The number of examiners has been increased from 262 to 298 over the past year, 22 more recruits will shortly go for training, and examiners are brought in from elsewhere to assist as circumstances permit. We have set no ceiling on the number of examiners to be employed in London, since we need to recruit as many as we can.