Driving Tests (Hansard, 9 May 1994)

§ Mr. Don Foster
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to change the practical element of the driving test.

§ Mr. Key
There are no plans to change the practical element of the driving test, but a separate theory test will be introduced by July 1996.

§ Mr. Don Foster
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the criteria for deciding on the closure of driving test centres; and what plans he has to restrict driving tests to larger towns.

§ Mr. Key
Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Driving Standards Agency under its chief executive, Dr. Ford. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from S. J. Ford to Mr. Don Foster, dated 6 May 1994. The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to the questions you have raised about the criteria used when deciding on the closure of driving test centres and whether there are plans to restrict driving tests to larger towns. The 1994–1995 Business Plan for the Driving Standards Agency explains that the review of the DSA test centre estate will continue with the aim of maintaining a list of possible centres for rationalisation. This might include a range of options from re-siting, merger with another centre or closure. Each test centre will be assessed against the following criteria:—

(i) the number of satisfactory test routes, including an assessment of the proportion of routes which include higher speed roads;

(ii) the quality of facilities for customers, including the provision of toilets and off-road parking;

(iii) financial efficiency, including rent, maintenance and energy costs, compared to equivalent costs at an alternative centre; and

(iv) demand for tests at the centre and its proximity to other test centres, including the capacity of neighbouring test centres to meet the existing level of transferred demand and cope with a possible increase.

There are no proposals to restrict driving tests to larger towns. It is not practicable for DSA to provide a test centre in every town in Britain, and the Agency must review its network by applying its criteria as even-handedly as possible across the country as a whole.