Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lewis Atkinson and Simon Lightwood

Thursday 29th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Lewis Atkinson (Sunderland Central) (Lab)]

T7. As the Government prepare their taxi and private hire vehicle Bill, will the Minister ensure that local authorities such as Sunderland have the enforcement powers and resources that they need to regulate all vehicles operating in their area, regardless of where those vehicles are registered?

[Simon Lightwood]

I fully recognise my hon. Friend’s concerns. Taxis and private hire vehicles are regulated through an outdated and fragmented framework, and this Government intend to bring forward a draft Bill to address that. My officials are also working hard to commence the powers from the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 that will let enforcement officers suspend any licence used in their area if there are immediate safety concerns.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lewis Atkinson and Simon Lightwood

Thursday 11th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lewis Atkinson (Sunderland Central) (Lab)]

9. What steps she is taking to increase the availability of driving tests.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Simon Lightwood)]

We are working hard to ensure that young people can book driving tests so that they can access opportunity in their local areas. We are recruiting and training more driving examiners, doubling examiner training capacity and offering overtime payment incentives. This is producing good results, with over 10,000 more tests a month now available than there would have been without the Secretary of State’s plans. There is more work to do, and we are committed to getting it right.

[Lewis Atkinson]

Learner drivers in Sunderland are fed up of waits of around 22 weeks for a driving test. In that time, they are often facing higher costs and barriers in accessing job opportunities. Can the Minister tell the House what steps he is taking to reduce driving test waiting times in Sunderland, and when he expects those waits to fall?

[Simon Lightwood]

Obviously, there were some issues with the close of the South Shields driving test centre, but no capacity was lost as a result of that. We recognise the impact that high waiting times are having on learner drivers across the country, including in the constituency of Sunderland Central, and the importance of helping learner drivers pass quickly. On 8 September, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency launched its latest recruitment campaign, which aims to recruit additional driving examiner resource to provide much-needed test capacity in Sunderland, Gateshead, Gosforth and Blythe.