§ Mrs. Iris RobinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action(a) has been taken and (b) will be taken in order to reduce waiting times for MOT appointments at the Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency. [131781]
§ Angela SmithThe principal cause of the present difficulties is a significant increase in demand: applications are up by around 11 per cent. over the previous year. Allied to this is the fact that the Agency's test centres have been closed on a phased basis for the installation of much needed new vehicle test equipment. I regret that despite careful planning it has not been possible to cope as effectively as I would have liked with this additional demand in recent months.
The Agency has taken a number of measures to reduce waiting times. These include increasing productivity, introducing a more efficient booking programme, making maxim um possible use of overtime, redeploying staff from non-urgent duties to testing, introducing extended working at a number of 203W centres, recruiting additional staff and postponing non-urgent training. It has also improved the provision of information and guidance to the public and is in the process of extending its new telephone booking service.
These and other measures have brought about a gradual improvement. Average waiting times have dropped from 43 days in early July to around 35 days. The positive trend is expected to continue over the next few months.