§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Secretary of State for Transport what test is made and how frequently of any approved driving instructor to ensure that he maintains continued fitness and ability during the four-year period of his registration.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe test of an instructor's continued ability and fitness to give instruction is carried out in accordance with regulation 8 of the Motor Cars (Driving Instruction) Regulations 1977. A supervising examiner from the Department accompanies the instructor while driving tuition is being given to a pupil. The frequency of such tests is currently under review following consultations with instructors' representative organisations, including NAADI.
§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Secretary of State for Transport what has been the overall pass rate for the practical part of the approved driving instructor examination over the past 10 years; and what has been the pass rate for candidates taking the examination for the first, second, third and fourth times.
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§ Mrs. ChalkerThe overall pass rate has been 48.6 per cent. The Department's records have not distinguished between first, second, third and fourth attempts.
§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Secretary of State for Transport (1) on how many occasions in each of the past 10 years his Department's officials examined the records kept by trainee driving instructors and of the licensee's supervisor;
(2) what supervision there is of licensed trainee driving instructors by his Department's supervising examiners during the period of the licence.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe Department has no authority directly to supervise trainee driving instructors. This is the responsibility of the approved driving instructor at the training establishment. The Department's supervising examiners inspect the records kept by the instructor and trainees from time to time. Information about frequency of these inspections is not available.
§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Secretary of State for Transport what criteria are applied by his Department in considering whether a person is fit and proper to be an approved driving instructor.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe Department's main concern is convictions for offences. Each case is decided on its merits having regard to the nature of the offence, the sentence imposed, the risk to pupils, mitigating circumstances and any other relevant factors.
§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Secretary of State for Transport what has been the pass rate for the new written approved driving instructor examination; and how it compares with the rate in each of the 10 years prior to the new examination.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe pass rate for the new style written examination since its introduction in April 1982 has been 43.2 per cent. The pass rate in preceding years for which figures are available are:
Per cent. 1974 69.04 1975 69.58 1976 69.84 1977 68.32 1978 72.20 1979 68.06 1980 71.29 1981 74.97
§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Secretary of State for Transport how many approved driving instructors have had their licences withdrawn in each of the past 10 years; and for what reasons.
§ Mrs. ChalkerInstructors are removed from the register of approved driving instructors if they cease to fulfill any of the conditions for registration, if registration was given by mistake or procured by fraud, for non-renewal of registration, or on death or resignation. The Department's records do not distinguish between these reasons but the numbers removed in the last 10 years were:
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Numbers 1973 806 1974 1,903 1975 2,211
Numbers 1976 1,531 1977 1,747 1978 1,447 1979 1,563 1980 1,439 1981 940 1982 1,259
§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Secretary of State for Transport how many approved driving instructors were on the register in each year between 1 October 1970 and 30 September 1982.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe numbers of instructors on the register of approved driving instructors in the years ending 30 September were:
Numbers 1971 14,832 1972 16,729 1973 18,884 1974 19,478 1975 19,183 1976 19,856 1977 20,781 1978 21,408 1979 22,350 1980 23,291 1981 24,832 1982 26,100
§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Secretary of State for Transport how many trainee driving instructor licences were issued between 1 October 1970 and 30 September 1982; and how many were first, second, third and fourth issues to the same applicant.
§ Mrs. Chalker64,940 trainee driving instructor licences were issued between 1 October 1970 and 30 September 1982. Figures of first, second, third and fourth issues are not avaialble. Licences are valid for six months; trainee instructors are not normally granted more than two consecutive licences.