HC Deb 12 May 2004 vol 421 cc401-2W
Mr. Damian Green

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) which driving test centres have refused to accept candidates because of a lack of capacity at the centre within(a) nine weeks, (b) 12 weeks and (c) more than 12 weeks of a practical test appointment being requested; [171967]

(2) what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who will seek a driving test in 2004–05; [171968]

(3) what the average waiting time is for practical driving tests for (a) cars, (b) motorcycles, (c) large goods vehicles and (d) passenger carrying vehicles, broken down by test centre. [171970]

Mr. Jamieson

Candidates are able to book driving tests with the Driving Standards Agency by phone, by post or online via the internet. They can also amend their appointment by phone or post to seek an earlier or later date, so appointment availability at individual test centres continually varies. No applicant for a driving test is refused an appointment.

The Agency has a national target for the average annual waiting time for a practical car driving test in England, Scotland and Wales of six weeks. The national average waiting time at the end of April for car tests was 9.2 weeks. Against the national average waiting time target for a motorcycling test of four weeks, the waiting time was 4.6 weeks. Against the national average waiting time target for a lorry or bus driving test of three weeks, the waiting time was 4.9 weeks.

The latest information about appointment availability for each type of test, at each test centre has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

In order to reduce the current high waiting times for tests in Great Britain the Agency recruited 283 new driving examiners in the last financial year and plans to recruit a further 330 in the coming year. An extra 7.30 am test slot is being added to weekday programmes in some test centres and tests are now offered on Sundays. The Agency is deploying as many driving examiners as possible from Scotland to the London and South East area to tackle the problem of high waiting times there. In the context of its Business Plan for 2004–05, I have set the Agency a target to bring national waiting times for a car driving test down to six weeks by January 2005.

The Agency estimates that it will handle 1,563,000 applications for practical car driving tests in 2004–05. The current pass rate for the practical car driving test is 43 per cent., so the applications will include a number from candidates who have been unsuccessful at a previous test attempt—some of whom will delay reapplying for a further test for over a year. Taking these factors together suggests that between 670,000 and 940,000 people will be making applications in the coming year.