Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the extra number of days of testing capacity the opening of Hexham and Bishop Auckland driving theory test centres will create per year.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is working hard to provide as many driving theory test appointments as possible. The transition of the theory test service in September 2021, will improve access for people in the North East by increasing the number of test centres from four to seven. There are currently six test centres now open, including Hexham which opened on 15 October 2021. A further test centre at Bishop Auckland will be opening on 9 November 2021. These seven test centres will offer over 90,000 theory tests a year. The DVSA is working with its supplier to meet service levels to ensure local demand is met.
By opening additional theory test centres in the North East, the DVSA expects to offer 110 theory test appointments at Hexham and 330 at Bishop Auckland in the next 12 months. This may vary in response to local demand.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many driving theory tests his Department expects to take place over the next year at (a) Hexham and (b) Bishop Auckland driving test centres.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is working hard to provide as many driving theory test appointments as possible. The transition of the theory test service in September 2021, will improve access for people in the North East by increasing the number of test centres from four to seven. There are currently six test centres now open, including Hexham which opened on 15 October 2021. A further test centre at Bishop Auckland will be opening on 9 November 2021. These seven test centres will offer over 90,000 theory tests a year. The DVSA is working with its supplier to meet service levels to ensure local demand is met.
By opening additional theory test centres in the North East, the DVSA expects to offer 110 theory test appointments at Hexham and 330 at Bishop Auckland in the next 12 months. This may vary in response to local demand.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, by what date his Department expects the driving theory test backlog to be cleared in the North East of England.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is working hard to provide as many driving theory test appointments as possible. The transition of the theory test service in September 2021, will improve access for people in the North East by increasing the number of test centres from four to seven. There are currently six test centres now open, including Hexham which opened on 15 October 2021. A further test centre at Bishop Auckland will be opening on 9 November 2021. These seven test centres will offer over 90,000 theory tests a year. The DVSA is working with its supplier to meet service levels to ensure local demand is met.
By opening additional theory test centres in the North East, the DVSA expects to offer 110 theory test appointments at Hexham and 330 at Bishop Auckland in the next 12 months. This may vary in response to local demand.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of trends in the level of maritime shipping costs in the last six months.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Shipping costs have risen during 2021 to a high level on a global basis as a result of supply and demand factors in international freight markets.
Unprecedented levels of demand are being driven by changes to consumer behaviors worldwide during the pandemic. Historical trends in the shipping sector are of pricing peaks and troughs, and it is expected that pricing levels will similarly re-adjust when the current demand drivers change. However, industry estimates are that high levels of demand will continue throughout 2021.