§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport under what powers magistrates may require those convicted of driving offences to retake their driving tests; and what are the figures for the use of this power in each of the last five years [35594]
§ Mr. NorrisUnder section 36 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988, as substituted by section 32 of the Road Traffic Act 1991, magistrates courts which have ordered drivers to be disqualified for a period of time on conviction on an offence of dangerous driving must also order them to be disqualified until they have passed an extended driving test. These courts may, at their discretion, also order other persons convicted of driving offences involiving obligatory endorsement to be disqualified until they have passed the appropriate driving test. The appropriate driving test is an extended driving test where the conviction involves obligatory disqualification, as with the main drink-drive offences, or if the driver has accumulated 12 or more penalty points. In other cases the test is the ordinary test of competence to drive.
Section 36 as substituted came into force on 1 July 1992. The numbers of disqualifications under that section since that date, notified to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency by all courts in England, Wales and Scotland, are as follows:
Extended test Ordinary test1 1992 (July to December) 186 1,093 1993 1,845 4,325 1994 3,128 6,224 1995 5,126 8,358 1996 (January to June) 1,843 2,593 1 Includes some ordinary tests ordered in respect of offences committed before 1 July 1992 in accordance with section 36 as first enacted. The Department has not kept statistics for the period before that date.