HC Deb 28 January 2004 vol 417 cc357-8W
Mr. Burns

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many attempts approved driving instructors will be permitted to pass the test; whether ADIs will be removed from the register if they fail the test; when the Government intend to bring in these changes; and if he will make a statement. [149828]

Mr. Jamieson

[holding answer 26 January 2004]Driving instructors will not be limited in the number of attempts they are allowed to pass the computer-based assessment we are adding to their supervision arrangements. Only if an instructor was unable to pass the assessment at the end of a two-year period would action be taken to remove the person from the register.

We intend to introduce the assessment this autumn. It will comprise a multiple-choice question test of knowledge and understanding of driving theory and instruction, plus a moving-image hazard perception test. The knowledge test draws on a bank of over 900 questions and is more comprehensive than when most instructors qualified

Hazard perception testing has been a key part of the qualification process for learner car drivers, lorry drivers, bus drivers, motor cyclists, potential instructors and driving examiners since November 2002. Extending it to driving instructors who have not been assessed in this key skill will help their standards maintenance and professionalism and result in a driving instructor profession better placed to deliver high-quality instruction.

We want to ensure that when the public, often young people, buy driving lessons they can have confidence that the instructor they choose will have kept up to date with developments in the learning-to-drive syllabus and be familiar with how the hazard perception test works.