§ Mr. Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the current waiting time for driving test applications before receiving their test in (a) each English region, (b) nationally, (c) west Yorkshire and (d) the Huddersfield area; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe information for the 18 January, the latest date for which full information is available, is as follows:
"L" Test Waiting Period (Weeks) (a) Traffic Area North Eastern (Newcastle) 6½ North Eastern (Leeds) 18½ North Western 9½ West Midlands 15½ Eastern (Nottingham) 12 Eastern (Cambridge) 14 South Wales 12¼ Western 11¾ South Eastern 14½ Scotland 11½ Metropolitan London 20½ (b) National 15 (c) West Yorkshire 21 (d) Huddersfield Driving Test Centre 18 I am concerned about the length of waiting periods generally. The backlog of test appointments has arisen mainly because of a much higher than forecast demand for tests coupled with a temporary shortage of examiners. Additional examiners have already been trained, and more are being recruited in order to reduced delays.