Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking with South Western Railway to help improve service reliability.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
South Western Railway’s performance has been impacted by the late introduction of their Class 701 ‘Arterio’ fleet, leading to a reliance on older, less reliable trains. Officials are meeting regularly with the operator to discuss performance, and the Secretary of State met with FirstGroup and MTR on 13th May to discuss recent failures in the introduction of the new fleet and what they are doing to speed up next steps.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people (a) sat and (b) passed a driving test at the Edinburgh (Currie) Driving Test Centre in each year since 2010.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The attached Excel document shows the number of people using a unique driver number that a) sat and b) passed a driving test at Edinburgh (Currie) driving test centre (DTC) in each year from 2015 to 30 September 2024. Please note, this data is based on candidates’ unique driver numbers. Based on this unique number, the data does not include if a candidate took a test more than once in any given year. However, if a candidate changed their unique driver number, each driver number is counted once in each year it is used. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) retention period for this data is ten years.
The attached Excel document also shows the number of tests conducted and passed at Edinburgh (Currie) DTC between 2010 and 30 September 2024. This data is the total number of tests conducted per year and would include candidates who took multiple tests. DVSA publishes this data online at: Driving test and theory test data: cars - GOV.UK.
DVSA can currently only publish the data included in the attached Excel document up to the end of September 2024.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she is taking steps with the Civil Aviation Authority to help reduce the potential impact of the new scheme of charges on drone operators.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
After consulting the aviation sector, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) consulted ministers in February about changes to its schemes of regulatory charges for 2024/25. We considered every response to its sector consultation, including 72 specifically about drone charges. Before coming to ministers and after sector consultation, the CAA amended its charges to make them less impactful to many members of the drone community.
Government support for the CAA in 2025/26 also includes £16.5m for Future of Flight projects, some of which will benefit drone users.
Where appropriate the CAA considers making refunds to applicants that misinterpret CAA policies or make mistakes in applications. The CAA plan to share guidance on common mistakes to help prevent recurrence and this will help to minimise applicant costs. Furthermore, the digitisation of some application routes should bear down on costs to regulated parties, including drone operators.
Asked by: Baroness Pidgeon (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will make an assessment of the potential of garage and repair networks to offer accessible and affordable MOT and maintenance services for electric vehicles, including battery health testing.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles has endorsed the Institute of the Motor Industry’s (IMI) TechSafe scheme, which helps to ensure technicians have the skills they need to safely repair an electric vehicle (EV) and allows consumers to access a register to find their nearest EV competent technician. According to the IMI, 64,700 technicians are already qualified to work on an EV. This represents 26% of all technicians in the UK.
At MOT vehicles are tested for safety critical components, such as tyres and brakes. The Government has not seen any evidence to suggest that EV battery health impacts road worthiness and therefore the need for testing during the MOT. In 2023, the Department for Transport published a call for evidence, which included questions related to EV testing. The Department continues to consider EV-specific items to improve the MOT test and expects to consult on these changes in the near future.
Asked by: Brian Mathew (Liberal Democrat - Melksham and Devizes)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of levels of car use on (a) congestion and (b) road noise.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department periodically publishes the national road traffic projections. The most recent being the National Road Traffic Projections 2022. This includes a measure of congestion expressed as lost time per mile, per vehicle in seconds. This is split by vehicle type, road type and region. While no specific assessment on levels of car use and road noise has been undertaken, the Government’s methods for the Calculation of Road Traffic Noise (CRTN), however, provides a standardised approach to calculate noise impacts from existing or proposed road networks to assess and manage the noise impacts on nearby communities.
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to consumers from (a) fraud, (b) unfair trading and (c) unsafe goods in the secondary driving test market in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
It is not illegal to resell a practical driving test appointment. But to ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a driving test, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests across the country and has announced further measures to review the driving test booking system.
On the 18 December 2024, DVSA launched a call for evidence, seeking views on the current rules to book tests. This will lead to consultation on improving processes, including any potential future legislative changes. On the 23 April 2025 the Secretary of State for Transport announced that this consultation has been fast-tracked to May 2025.
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Q44 of the oral evidence given by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State to the Transport Select Committee on 4 December 2024, HC 437, what the average waiting time for driving tests is in Birmingham Perry Barr constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times. The average waiting time in April 2025 for a car practical driving test at Birmingham (Kingstanding) was 24 weeks compared to the National average of 22.3 weeks.
It is important road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point a person drives unsupervised for the first time.
The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place to ensure a customer’s road safety knowledge and ability to identify developing hazards is current. This validity period is set in legislation, and the Government has no current plans to lay further legislation to extend it.
Ensuring learner drivers have current relevant knowledge and skills is a vital part of the learning to drive process as new drivers are disproportionately casualties on our roads. Learners therefore need to pass another theory test if their two-year theory test certificate expires.
The table below shows; the number of driving examiners (DE) DVSA onboarded, the number of DEs that passed or failed the required training course; and the DEs that left DVSA from January 2021 to April 2025 for its Birmingham (Kingstanding) driving test centre. DVSA has one potential new entrant DE currently undergoing pre-employment checks before a course start can be agreed.
| 2025 to April 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
DEs onboarded | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
DEs passed training | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
DEs failed training | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
DEs left | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
DVSA does not take the decision to cancel tests lightly and will only cancel a test as a last resort as it knows how disappointing it can be for customers. When DVSA does have to cancel a test, it will reschedule it to the next available date at the time. The table below shows the total number of tests and how many DVSA cancelled due to either medical absence or annual leave for Birmingham (Kingstanding):
| 01/01/2024 - 30/09/2024 * | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
Total Tests | 13865 | 11298 | 8616 | 8089 | 5688 |
Test cancelled due to medical absence | 1008 (7.3%) | 657 (5.8%) | 393 (4.6%) | 238 (2.9%) | 468 (8.2%) |
Tests cancelled due to annual leave | 222 (1.6%) | 166 (1.5%) | 82 (0.9%) | 152 (1.9%) | 92 (1.6%) |
Note: This data does not include tests cancelled because of the pandemic.
* - Donates latest available published official stats that can be viewed on GOV.UK
DVSA’s additional test overtime incentive is a voluntary scheme open to all eligible volunteers authorised to provide car practical driving tests. The scheme is designed to encourage a high level of take up. It is too early to provide information on how many volunteers might take up the offer both nationally or in the Birmingham Kingstanding area.
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many eligible (a) managers and (b) administrative staff will be deployed as driving test examiners in (i) Birmingham and (ii) Birmingham (Kingstanding) Test Centre through the DVSA Additional Testing Award Scheme.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times. The average waiting time in April 2025 for a car practical driving test at Birmingham (Kingstanding) was 24 weeks compared to the National average of 22.3 weeks.
It is important road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point a person drives unsupervised for the first time.
The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place to ensure a customer’s road safety knowledge and ability to identify developing hazards is current. This validity period is set in legislation, and the Government has no current plans to lay further legislation to extend it.
Ensuring learner drivers have current relevant knowledge and skills is a vital part of the learning to drive process as new drivers are disproportionately casualties on our roads. Learners therefore need to pass another theory test if their two-year theory test certificate expires.
The table below shows; the number of driving examiners (DE) DVSA onboarded, the number of DEs that passed or failed the required training course; and the DEs that left DVSA from January 2021 to April 2025 for its Birmingham (Kingstanding) driving test centre. DVSA has one potential new entrant DE currently undergoing pre-employment checks before a course start can be agreed.
| 2025 to April 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
DEs onboarded | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
DEs passed training | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
DEs failed training | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
DEs left | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
DVSA does not take the decision to cancel tests lightly and will only cancel a test as a last resort as it knows how disappointing it can be for customers. When DVSA does have to cancel a test, it will reschedule it to the next available date at the time. The table below shows the total number of tests and how many DVSA cancelled due to either medical absence or annual leave for Birmingham (Kingstanding):
| 01/01/2024 - 30/09/2024 * | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
Total Tests | 13865 | 11298 | 8616 | 8089 | 5688 |
Test cancelled due to medical absence | 1008 (7.3%) | 657 (5.8%) | 393 (4.6%) | 238 (2.9%) | 468 (8.2%) |
Tests cancelled due to annual leave | 222 (1.6%) | 166 (1.5%) | 82 (0.9%) | 152 (1.9%) | 92 (1.6%) |
Note: This data does not include tests cancelled because of the pandemic.
* - Donates latest available published official stats that can be viewed on GOV.UK
DVSA’s additional test overtime incentive is a voluntary scheme open to all eligible volunteers authorised to provide car practical driving tests. The scheme is designed to encourage a high level of take up. It is too early to provide information on how many volunteers might take up the offer both nationally or in the Birmingham Kingstanding area.
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many driving tests have been cancelled in Birmingham Perry Barr constituency due to examiner (a) sickness and (b) annual leave in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times. The average waiting time in April 2025 for a car practical driving test at Birmingham (Kingstanding) was 24 weeks compared to the National average of 22.3 weeks.
It is important road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point a person drives unsupervised for the first time.
The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place to ensure a customer’s road safety knowledge and ability to identify developing hazards is current. This validity period is set in legislation, and the Government has no current plans to lay further legislation to extend it.
Ensuring learner drivers have current relevant knowledge and skills is a vital part of the learning to drive process as new drivers are disproportionately casualties on our roads. Learners therefore need to pass another theory test if their two-year theory test certificate expires.
The table below shows; the number of driving examiners (DE) DVSA onboarded, the number of DEs that passed or failed the required training course; and the DEs that left DVSA from January 2021 to April 2025 for its Birmingham (Kingstanding) driving test centre. DVSA has one potential new entrant DE currently undergoing pre-employment checks before a course start can be agreed.
| 2025 to April 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
DEs onboarded | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
DEs passed training | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
DEs failed training | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
DEs left | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
DVSA does not take the decision to cancel tests lightly and will only cancel a test as a last resort as it knows how disappointing it can be for customers. When DVSA does have to cancel a test, it will reschedule it to the next available date at the time. The table below shows the total number of tests and how many DVSA cancelled due to either medical absence or annual leave for Birmingham (Kingstanding):
| 01/01/2024 - 30/09/2024 * | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
Total Tests | 13865 | 11298 | 8616 | 8089 | 5688 |
Test cancelled due to medical absence | 1008 (7.3%) | 657 (5.8%) | 393 (4.6%) | 238 (2.9%) | 468 (8.2%) |
Tests cancelled due to annual leave | 222 (1.6%) | 166 (1.5%) | 82 (0.9%) | 152 (1.9%) | 92 (1.6%) |
Note: This data does not include tests cancelled because of the pandemic.
* - Donates latest available published official stats that can be viewed on GOV.UK
DVSA’s additional test overtime incentive is a voluntary scheme open to all eligible volunteers authorised to provide car practical driving tests. The scheme is designed to encourage a high level of take up. It is too early to provide information on how many volunteers might take up the offer both nationally or in the Birmingham Kingstanding area.
Asked by: Ayoub Khan (Independent - Birmingham Perry Barr)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many additional driving test examiner trainers will be deployed in (a) Birmingham and (b) Birmingham (Kingstanding) Test Centre through the DVSA Additional Testing Award Scheme.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times. The average waiting time in April 2025 for a car practical driving test at Birmingham (Kingstanding) was 24 weeks compared to the National average of 22.3 weeks.
It is important road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point a person drives unsupervised for the first time.
The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place to ensure a customer’s road safety knowledge and ability to identify developing hazards is current. This validity period is set in legislation, and the Government has no current plans to lay further legislation to extend it.
Ensuring learner drivers have current relevant knowledge and skills is a vital part of the learning to drive process as new drivers are disproportionately casualties on our roads. Learners therefore need to pass another theory test if their two-year theory test certificate expires.
The table below shows; the number of driving examiners (DE) DVSA onboarded, the number of DEs that passed or failed the required training course; and the DEs that left DVSA from January 2021 to April 2025 for its Birmingham (Kingstanding) driving test centre. DVSA has one potential new entrant DE currently undergoing pre-employment checks before a course start can be agreed.
| 2025 to April 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
DEs onboarded | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
DEs passed training | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
DEs failed training | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
DEs left | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
DVSA does not take the decision to cancel tests lightly and will only cancel a test as a last resort as it knows how disappointing it can be for customers. When DVSA does have to cancel a test, it will reschedule it to the next available date at the time. The table below shows the total number of tests and how many DVSA cancelled due to either medical absence or annual leave for Birmingham (Kingstanding):
| 01/01/2024 - 30/09/2024 * | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
Total Tests | 13865 | 11298 | 8616 | 8089 | 5688 |
Test cancelled due to medical absence | 1008 (7.3%) | 657 (5.8%) | 393 (4.6%) | 238 (2.9%) | 468 (8.2%) |
Tests cancelled due to annual leave | 222 (1.6%) | 166 (1.5%) | 82 (0.9%) | 152 (1.9%) | 92 (1.6%) |
Note: This data does not include tests cancelled because of the pandemic.
* - Donates latest available published official stats that can be viewed on GOV.UK
DVSA’s additional test overtime incentive is a voluntary scheme open to all eligible volunteers authorised to provide car practical driving tests. The scheme is designed to encourage a high level of take up. It is too early to provide information on how many volunteers might take up the offer both nationally or in the Birmingham Kingstanding area.