§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the reasons for proposing the closure of the driving test centre in Shrewsbury. [111917]
§ Mr. JamiesonIn March, the Driving Standards Agency issued a letter of consultation to interested parties about options for the future provision of practical car driving and motorcycleriding tests in the Shropshire area in order to ensure that the existing test centres continued to meet the needs of the Agency and its customers. The four driving test centres involved were at Telford, Shrewsbury, Whitchurch and Oswestry. The preferred option would have involved co-locating the Shrewsbury and Telford test centres at Telford and closing the Shrewsbury centre. However, as a result of an upsurge in demand for practical tests, the review has now been shelved indefinitely and the consultation exercise suspended. On 28 April, the Agency wrote to all the interested parties explaining there were no longer plans to close test centres in the area for the foreseeable future.