Kettering MP adds voice to driving tests debacle in Westminster

MP adds voice to driving tests issue in Westminster The issue of driving test availability and cost is leaving learners and instructors "frustrated", an MP has said.

Rosie Wrighting, the Labour MP for Kettering, raised the issue at a Westminster Hall debate on Wednesday, saying slots were often booked up within minutes of becoming available.

Lilian Greenwood, the minister for future of roads, said she had asked the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) to look into the booking and management of tests.

Tony Hookings, chair of the Kettering driving instructor group, said: "We have five or six month waits for driving tests which if you add that to the theory test wait... people are looking at eight months for a driving test."

According to government figures, nearly one driving test a day was cancelled in Kettering last year.

Ms Wrighting told the debate: "Both instructors and pupils are frustrated by the lack of tests available and how frequently they are cancelled.

"Often some slots are booked and then advertised on social media for up to £250."

Ms Wrighting said tests available at 06:00 on a Monday were often gone by 06:10.

"My constituents are trying to book their driving tests, not to see Oasis," she told the debate.

'Huge long wait' Mr Hookings said the average learning time for students was 40 to 45 hours.

"What we are trying to think about is our students... a lot of them have a real need to get on the road with family issues or work issues and what we are seeing is this huge long wait," he told BBC Radio Northampton.

He said late availability could be difficult for driving instructors and often saw students lose confidence behind the wheel.

"Over the summer months it was horrendous - they were only releasing about 70 slots for January and February," he added.

While there is pressure and a demand for tests, Carly Brookfield, chief executive of the Driving Instructors Association, said there was just not enough resources.

She said part of the problem was a backlog from drivers trying to book a test during the pandemic, and while there were still delays from that age group, there were new people "coming behind them who are ready for tests".

"You've also got issues with not being able to recruit new driving examiners... It created the perfect storm of not enough resources to supply the test but peak demand for the test from the customer," she said.

However, she said the problem did not lie with the DVSA, but with people "panic buying" test slots before they were ready.

"People are almost getting their provisional licence from the get-go are booking their driving test. They are grabbing them off the shelves," she said.

In a statement, the DVSA said two million tests had been provided in the past financial year.

The group said it wanted to recruit more examiners and help more learners to pass first time.

Ms Greenwood told the Westminster debate that the DVSA had recruited and was training 250 new examiners this year, and was working to recruit and train another 200.