HC Deb 28 March 1983 vol 40 cc79-80W
Mr. Speed

asked the Secretary of State for Transport if he has considered the case for the introduction of date to date vehicle excise duty licensing; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs. Chalker

I have been looking closely at the possibilities and have taken into account the views of interested parties. A full date to date licensing scheme would allow a vehicle excise licence to be taken out on any day of the month and would expire exactly six or 12 months later. Such a scheme would be expensive to operate and would make the enforcement of vehicle excise duty much more difficult, particularly for the police on whose co-operation we so heavily rely. Accordingly I have concluded that full date to date licensing should not be adopted.

I have also been considering a more limited version of this scheme involving the first licensing of new vehicles. Licences would run for part of the month plus six or 12 months. The forthcoming replacement of the driver and vehicle licensing centre's computers rules out the introduction of changes of this kind for at least three years,

Mrs. Chalker

I regret that statistics about the first-time pass rate among L test candidates are not collected.

Mr. McTaggart

asked the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what is the average waiting time in (a) Glasgow overall and (b) in the individual test centres within Glasgow for a driving test;

(2) what was the average waiting time for a driving test in Glasgow in each of the past five years.

Mrs. Chalker

The average waiting time for an L test at each of the Glasgow centres at 11 March 1983 was:

Centre Weeks
Anniesland Road 5
Riddrie 1
Rutherglen 2
Shawlands 2
Shettleston 3

The overall average wait was 2.6 weeks.

In previous years the average wait at Glasgow centres in early March was 5.8 weeks in 1982, 14.6 weeks in 1981 and 26 weeks in 1980. Information about earlier years is not available.

Mr. McTaggart

asked the Secretary of State for Transport how many examiners are currently employed in Glasgow at driving test centres; and what have been the numbers in each of the past five years.

Mrs. Chalker

The numbers are as follows:

but in the meantime officials will continue discussions with the motor trade on need for and the feasibility of such a proposal.