HC Deb 19 July 1994 vol 247 cc89-90W
Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to close the Driving Standards Agency.

Mr. Key

There are no plans to close the Driving Standards Agency.

Mrs. Dunwoody

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what considerations underlie the closure of part of the Driving Standards Agency public counter service.

Mr. Key

Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Driving Standards Agency under its chief executive, Dr. John Ford. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from G. A. Lobo to Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody, dated 18 July 1994:

The Secretary of State has asked the Chief Executive to reply to the question you raised about the considerations that led to the closure of part of the Driving Standards Agency public counter service. As Dr. Ford is on annual leave I am replying on his behalf.

The use of public counters has declined in recent years. Each of the present 8 counters now deals with an average of only 50 applications a week—compared with a total weekly average of more than 33,000 applications. This facility is a very expensive way of receiving test applications, and the introduction of credit card bookings for Large Goods Vehicle and Passenger Carrying Vehicle driving tests from October, to facilitate booking of those tests at short notice, will reduce the use of counter services even further.

Public counters at Cambridge and Edinburgh were closed in October 1993 and March 1994 respectively.

The present public counters will be closed next October.