Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, further to the letter of 22 May from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State to the Hon. Member for Stockton West, if he will set out some of the incentives being offered to examiners to perform more tests; and if he will list the average number of tests performed per week per examiner in each of the last 3 years.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In June 2025, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) reintroduced overtime incentives via the Additional Test Allowance (ATA) scheme. Since then, the agency has conducted around 9,000 to 13,000 extra tests each month through overtime, and between June 2025 and April 2026 DVSA delivered 217,294 more tests than in the same period the year before.
In April 2026, 5,985 car practical driving tests were conducted by staff qualified to conduct tests but working in non-driving examiner (DE) roles as part of their normal day job. This equates to ~3% of the total 176,690 car practical driving tests, conducted in April 2026. DVSA is still finalising the car practical driving tests conducted data for May 2026, and this will be available later in June.
As well as overtime incentives, DVSA is making an exceptional payment of £5,000 to DEs and eligible roles (divided into two payments) over 12 months to encourage existing DEs to stay. As of April 2026, there were 1,604 full-time equivalent (FTE) DE available to deliver car practical driving tests. The number of tests an individual DE can conduct in a year can differ for various reasons, however, a full-time DE can be expected to add approximately 1,200 tests per year to the booking system.
DVSA has reviewed its DE recruitment and training system to increase capacity. A six-week accelerated DE training pilot is enabling faster qualification without compromising standards. DVSA is also reviewing the trainee‑to‑trainer ratio and increasing the number of permanent trainers to boost test delivery capacity, underpinned by improved end‑to‑end workforce planning.
Between 1 January and 31 May 2026, Ministry of Defence support has delivered 2,686 additional tests in parts of England, including the north east, south west of London, and the south west.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, further to the letter of 22 May from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State to the Hon. Member for Stockton West, how many qualified DVSA staff have returned to front line examining roles and how many exams have they conducted expressed a) as a number and b) as a percentage of all tests.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In June 2025, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) reintroduced overtime incentives via the Additional Test Allowance (ATA) scheme. Since then, the agency has conducted around 9,000 to 13,000 extra tests each month through overtime, and between June 2025 and April 2026 DVSA delivered 217,294 more tests than in the same period the year before.
In April 2026, 5,985 car practical driving tests were conducted by staff qualified to conduct tests but working in non-driving examiner (DE) roles as part of their normal day job. This equates to ~3% of the total 176,690 car practical driving tests, conducted in April 2026. DVSA is still finalising the car practical driving tests conducted data for May 2026, and this will be available later in June.
As well as overtime incentives, DVSA is making an exceptional payment of £5,000 to DEs and eligible roles (divided into two payments) over 12 months to encourage existing DEs to stay. As of April 2026, there were 1,604 full-time equivalent (FTE) DE available to deliver car practical driving tests. The number of tests an individual DE can conduct in a year can differ for various reasons, however, a full-time DE can be expected to add approximately 1,200 tests per year to the booking system.
DVSA has reviewed its DE recruitment and training system to increase capacity. A six-week accelerated DE training pilot is enabling faster qualification without compromising standards. DVSA is also reviewing the trainee‑to‑trainer ratio and increasing the number of permanent trainers to boost test delivery capacity, underpinned by improved end‑to‑end workforce planning.
Between 1 January and 31 May 2026, Ministry of Defence support has delivered 2,686 additional tests in parts of England, including the north east, south west of London, and the south west.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, further to the letter of 22 May from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State to the Hon. Member for Stockton West, how many Ministry of Defence driving examiners have been used for civilian driving exams and how many exams have they conducted in each of the last two years.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In June 2025, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) reintroduced overtime incentives via the Additional Test Allowance (ATA) scheme. Since then, the agency has conducted around 9,000 to 13,000 extra tests each month through overtime, and between June 2025 and April 2026 DVSA delivered 217,294 more tests than in the same period the year before.
In April 2026, 5,985 car practical driving tests were conducted by staff qualified to conduct tests but working in non-driving examiner (DE) roles as part of their normal day job. This equates to ~3% of the total 176,690 car practical driving tests, conducted in April 2026. DVSA is still finalising the car practical driving tests conducted data for May 2026, and this will be available later in June.
As well as overtime incentives, DVSA is making an exceptional payment of £5,000 to DEs and eligible roles (divided into two payments) over 12 months to encourage existing DEs to stay. As of April 2026, there were 1,604 full-time equivalent (FTE) DE available to deliver car practical driving tests. The number of tests an individual DE can conduct in a year can differ for various reasons, however, a full-time DE can be expected to add approximately 1,200 tests per year to the booking system.
DVSA has reviewed its DE recruitment and training system to increase capacity. A six-week accelerated DE training pilot is enabling faster qualification without compromising standards. DVSA is also reviewing the trainee‑to‑trainer ratio and increasing the number of permanent trainers to boost test delivery capacity, underpinned by improved end‑to‑end workforce planning.
Between 1 January and 31 May 2026, Ministry of Defence support has delivered 2,686 additional tests in parts of England, including the north east, south west of London, and the south west.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, further to the letter of 22 May from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State to the Hon. Member for Stockton West, if he will set out what steps he has taken to increase training capacity so that new examiners can become qualified more quickly.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In June 2025, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) reintroduced overtime incentives via the Additional Test Allowance (ATA) scheme. Since then, the agency has conducted around 9,000 to 13,000 extra tests each month through overtime, and between June 2025 and April 2026 DVSA delivered 217,294 more tests than in the same period the year before.
In April 2026, 5,985 car practical driving tests were conducted by staff qualified to conduct tests but working in non-driving examiner (DE) roles as part of their normal day job. This equates to ~3% of the total 176,690 car practical driving tests, conducted in April 2026. DVSA is still finalising the car practical driving tests conducted data for May 2026, and this will be available later in June.
As well as overtime incentives, DVSA is making an exceptional payment of £5,000 to DEs and eligible roles (divided into two payments) over 12 months to encourage existing DEs to stay. As of April 2026, there were 1,604 full-time equivalent (FTE) DE available to deliver car practical driving tests. The number of tests an individual DE can conduct in a year can differ for various reasons, however, a full-time DE can be expected to add approximately 1,200 tests per year to the booking system.
DVSA has reviewed its DE recruitment and training system to increase capacity. A six-week accelerated DE training pilot is enabling faster qualification without compromising standards. DVSA is also reviewing the trainee‑to‑trainer ratio and increasing the number of permanent trainers to boost test delivery capacity, underpinned by improved end‑to‑end workforce planning.
Between 1 January and 31 May 2026, Ministry of Defence support has delivered 2,686 additional tests in parts of England, including the north east, south west of London, and the south west.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her department plans to place water safety campaigns on TikTok, YouTube and other social media platforms popular with young people.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Water safety is a shared responsibility across Government, arm's length bodies, and specialist organisations. All organisations are encouraged to use their social channels in the most effective way. Platform use and advertising spend varies between organisations to reflect different target audiences.
The Environment Agency shares safety advice around its assets and supports campaigns by leading experts such as the RNLI and Royal Life Saving Society. The Canal and River Trust, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, and others run their own water safety campaigns across multiple channels.
The National Water Safety Forum is currently running ‘Phone-Float-Throw’, a targeted paid digital campaign aimed at young male audiences across platforms including Snapchat. Defra and its ministers amplify water safety messaging by resharing content from the Environment Agency and partners on social media.
Government departments are limited in their use of TikTok, with central Government activity primarily conducted through the UK Government's central account.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference the Government's December 2025 BBC Charter Review Green Paper proposing the expansion of the Local Democracy Reporting Service, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that independent academic researchers are able to access the comprehensive set of content produced by that scheme.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The content produced by Local Democracy Reporting Service journalists is made freely available to the BBC and partners to the BBC’s Local News Partnerships scheme. The BBC is operationally independent of the government and the process for determining Partnership eligibility is therefore a matter for the BBC itself.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the value for money of the Local Democracy Reporting Service; and whether future funding for the Local Democracy Reporting Service will be conditional on demonstrable compliance with impartiality, accuracy and editorial transparency standards.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Secretary of State meets regularly with the BBC to discuss a wide range of issues.
The BBC is operationally and editorially independent of the government. The BBC’s Principles of Operation for the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) set out that the core purpose of the LDRS is to provide impartial coverage of the regular business and workings of local authorities in the UK, and other relevant democratic institutions. These Principles also make clear that Local Democracy Reporters report to the contract holder, not to the BBC or any other partner, and their reporting should be undertaken according to common editorial standards. The full set of principles is available at https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/lnp/LDRS_operation_principles.pdf.
The Charter Review, launched on 16 December 2025, will ensure the BBC continues to deliver the high standards of reporting that the public expect of a national broadcaster and that it is suitably transparent to the public and to Parliament. The Green Paper discussed how the next Charter could guarantee local news of democratic importance is provided into the future, through initiatives such as the LDRS. In doing so we are evaluating what, if any, changes are necessary to ensure the LDRS operates as effectively as possible.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of safeguards to ensure that BBC-funded Local Democracy Reporters produce balanced and impartial coverage when their reports are supplied to local news outlets.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Secretary of State meets regularly with the BBC to discuss a wide range of issues.
The BBC is operationally and editorially independent of the government. The BBC’s Principles of Operation for the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) set out that the core purpose of the LDRS is to provide impartial coverage of the regular business and workings of local authorities in the UK, and other relevant democratic institutions. These Principles also make clear that Local Democracy Reporters report to the contract holder, not to the BBC or any other partner, and their reporting should be undertaken according to common editorial standards. The full set of principles is available at https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/lnp/LDRS_operation_principles.pdf.
The Charter Review, launched on 16 December 2025, will ensure the BBC continues to deliver the high standards of reporting that the public expect of a national broadcaster and that it is suitably transparent to the public and to Parliament. The Green Paper discussed how the next Charter could guarantee local news of democratic importance is provided into the future, through initiatives such as the LDRS. In doing so we are evaluating what, if any, changes are necessary to ensure the LDRS operates as effectively as possible.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with the BBC on how the Local Democracy Reporting Service ensures political impartiality in reporting on local councils, combined authorities and other local democratic institutions.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Secretary of State meets regularly with the BBC to discuss a wide range of issues.
The BBC is operationally and editorially independent of the government. The BBC’s Principles of Operation for the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) set out that the core purpose of the LDRS is to provide impartial coverage of the regular business and workings of local authorities in the UK, and other relevant democratic institutions. These Principles also make clear that Local Democracy Reporters report to the contract holder, not to the BBC or any other partner, and their reporting should be undertaken according to common editorial standards. The full set of principles is available at https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/lnp/LDRS_operation_principles.pdf.
The Charter Review, launched on 16 December 2025, will ensure the BBC continues to deliver the high standards of reporting that the public expect of a national broadcaster and that it is suitably transparent to the public and to Parliament. The Green Paper discussed how the next Charter could guarantee local news of democratic importance is provided into the future, through initiatives such as the LDRS. In doing so we are evaluating what, if any, changes are necessary to ensure the LDRS operates as effectively as possible.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of Local Democracy Reporting Service funded reporter posts are currently hosted by Reach plc publications.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Local Democracy Reporting Scheme currently provides 165 journalists in local news rooms across the country.
The BBC publishes a full list of the allocated LDRS contracts and reporters which is available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/lnp/documents/reporter_contract_distribution_2025_v3.pdf. 83 reporters were allocated to Reach in the most recent round of contract awards last year.