§ Mr. Garel-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to reduce the 35-week delay in obtaining a driving test in the Watford area.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeAs a result of our success in recruiting driving examiners and following the opening of new driving test centres in Pinner and Rickmansworth in 1980, the waiting period at Watford is now only 14 weeks for an ordinary driving test.
The waiting periods at nearby centres are:
Weeks Rickmansworth 13 Pinner 21 Wealdstone 22
§ Mr. Garel-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the three areas with the longest waiting time for driving tests in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe three traffic areas where the average waiting period for an ordinary driving test is longest are as follows:
Metropolitan (average waiting period 25 weeks) Eastern (average waiting period 18 weeks) Scottish North (average waiting period 18 weeks) I am glad to say that, as a result of the Government's success in recruiting driving examiners and opening new test centres, which was a policy that we embarked upon as a matter of urgency two years ago, waiting periods are now shorter than they have been for a number of years in these areas and over the whole country. Waiting periods have fallen and we continue to give high priority to reducing further the excessive delays in the Metropolitan traffic area in particular as we recognise that they are still excessive.