§ Mrs. WiseTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will reduce the amount of notice which must be given by a learner driver to cancel a driving test without loss of fee from the current time of 10 days.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyNo. The 10 days' notice was introduced on 27 June this year to cut the number of wasted test periods, shorten waiting times for all candidates and keep down fees.
§ Mrs. WiseTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will ensure that at least three days notice of cancellation of a driving test is given by his Department, except if the reason is exceptionally bad weather;
(2) if he will ensure that driving tests are not cancelled by his Department without notice.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyEvery effort is made to give as much notice of cancellations as possible. Circumstances such as sudden illness of an examiner may sometimes make a last-minute cancellation unavoidable. In such cases, priority is given to re-booking the candidates involved; and claims for reasonable out-of-pocket expenses are considered sympathetically.