Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) advice and (b) support his Department is providing to people who are unable to book practical driving tests due to limited availability.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has put in place a number of measures to increase practical driving tests. These include offering overtime and annual leave buy back to examiners, asking all those qualified to conduct tests, but who do not do so as part of their current day job, to return to conducting tests, and conducting out of hours testing (such as on public holidays). The DVSA has also started a recruitment campaign to increase the number of examiners. The aim is to increase testing capacity and reduce the backlog as quickly as possible, whilst maintaining a COVID-secure service for customers and examiners.
As of 24 May 2021, there were nationally circa 140,000 practical car tests still available to book over the next 24 weeks.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) advises candidates to look for earlier dates by checking the ‘change your driving test’ service at: www.gov.uk/change-driving-test. The service is live and additional tests are added when they become available. Cancellations are also returned to the system by other candidates who often reschedule their test at short notice, freeing up test appointments for others to book. The DVSA also advises candidates to check availability at other nearby test centres.
As of 24 May 2021, there are, on average, 30,000 practical car driving test appointments available each week. This is compared to, on average, 33,000 available tests each week pre-March 2020.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is currently only able to deliver a maximum of 6 tests, per examiner, each day. Out of hours tests are limited to weekends only. When the service returns to 7 tests a day, the DVSA will be able to reintroduce evening tests. The aim is that an increase in test slots, together with an increase in examiners, will see the number of available weekly test slots exceed that of pre-March 2020.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of available practical driving tests.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has put in place a number of measures to increase practical driving tests. These include offering overtime and annual leave buy back to examiners, asking all those qualified to conduct tests, but who do not do so as part of their current day job, to return to conducting tests, and conducting out of hours testing (such as on public holidays). The DVSA has also started a recruitment campaign to increase the number of examiners. The aim is to increase testing capacity and reduce the backlog as quickly as possible, whilst maintaining a COVID-secure service for customers and examiners.
As of 24 May 2021, there were nationally circa 140,000 practical car tests still available to book over the next 24 weeks.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) advises candidates to look for earlier dates by checking the ‘change your driving test’ service at: www.gov.uk/change-driving-test. The service is live and additional tests are added when they become available. Cancellations are also returned to the system by other candidates who often reschedule their test at short notice, freeing up test appointments for others to book. The DVSA also advises candidates to check availability at other nearby test centres.
As of 24 May 2021, there are, on average, 30,000 practical car driving test appointments available each week. This is compared to, on average, 33,000 available tests each week pre-March 2020.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is currently only able to deliver a maximum of 6 tests, per examiner, each day. Out of hours tests are limited to weekends only. When the service returns to 7 tests a day, the DVSA will be able to reintroduce evening tests. The aim is that an increase in test slots, together with an increase in examiners, will see the number of available weekly test slots exceed that of pre-March 2020.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve safety in shared spaces for (a) cyclists and (b) pedestrians while social distancing is required during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Local authorities are responsible for ensuring any changes to their road networks are safe and fit for purpose. The statutory guidance published on 9 May on reallocating road space set out the steps Government expects local authorities to take to provide more space to cycling and walking, and to enable social distancing, in response to Covid-19. It is available at
Alongside the guidance, the Department announced emergency active travel funding of £225M, to help local authorities make changes to their roads to enable more walking and cycling, and to enable social distancing.
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government has published guidance for local authorities with information and examples of measures that may be undertaken to adapt and manage public spaces in order to help social distancing. It is available at
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/safer-public-places-urban-centres-and-green-spaces-covid-19
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what date the first e-scooter trials will begin.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department will soon make the legal changes to enable trials. We are working with local authorities to help them put in place plans for trials. Trials are likely to start in different areas at different times, starting in the next few weeks.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of e-scooters on capacity levels in (a) cycle lanes and (b) other under-used road infrastructure.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department has not assessed the effects of trials of e-scooters on the capacity of cycle lanes or under-used road infrastructure. There is limited evidence available about the impact of e-scooters on the road network. This is why we are preparing to start trials of e-scooters. The trials will allow us to gather evidence about the impacts of e-scooters including which parts of road space they may be used. This will inform future policy for e-scooters and other micromobility vehicles.
The Department has recently laid regulations which allow local authorities to make Emergency Traffic Regulation Orders for measures needed to deal with the effects of coronavirus. Alternative publicity arrangements are also now available for other types of Order. These regulations can be used to create new cycles lanes, which e-scooters could use.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of car journeys that will replaced by the use of e-scooters in the upcoming trials.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
There is limited evidence available about the impact of e-scooters on the road network. Recent evidence from European cities suggests around 15-20% of e-scooter journeys could replace journeys by car.
The trials will allow us to gather evidence about the impacts of e-scooters including what mode shift they cause. This will inform future policy for e-scooters and other micromobility vehicles.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what evidence his Department assessed when deciding to set the speed limit for e-scooters in forthcoming trials at 12.5mph.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department’s consultation on the rules for e-scooters proposed a speed limit of 12.5 mph. The Department considered evidence available from international organisations, published reports and considered the rules for e-scooter use in other countries. We also took account of the responses received from the Future of Transport regulatory review call for evidence. The proposed speed limit also directly influences what other rules should apply to the use of e-scooters.
There is limited evidence on the impact of different speed limits for e-scooters and a range of speed limits apply in other countries.
However, we are currently analysing the responses to the consultation.
The trials will allow us to gather evidence about the about the use of e-scooters and their effects on other road users. This will inform future policy for e-scooters and other micromobility vehicles.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what evidence his Department assessed when deciding to set the motor wattage for e-scooters in the forthcoming trials at 350W.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department’s consultation on the rules for e-scooters asked whether there should be a maximum power set for e-scooters and asked whether 350W is an appropriate limit. The Department has considered evidence available from international organisations, published reports and considered the rules for e-scooter use in other countries. We also took account of the responses received from the Future of Transport regulatory review call for evidence. The proposed power limit also directly influences what other rules should apply to the use of e-scooters.
There is limited evidence on the impact of different maximum power limits for e-scooters and a range of different power limits apply in other countries.
We are currently analysing the responses to the consultation.
The trials will allow us to gather evidence about the use of e-scooters and their effects on other road users. This will inform future policy for e-scooters and other micromobility vehicles.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to ensure that roads are (a) accessible to and (b) safe for electric scooters.
Answered by George Freeman
We are considering this closely and recognise that people want to take advantage of the opportunities personal vehicles, such as electric scooters can offer. The Department for Transport is committed to encouraging innovation in transport as well as improving road safety, but new modes of transport must be safe and secure by design.
The Future of Mobility: Urban Strategy, published on 19 March 2019 includes a Regulatory Review to address the challenges of ensuring our transport infrastructure and regulation are fit for the future.
The Strategy can be found at:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/future-of-mobility-urban-strategy
The Department will use the Regulatory Review to examine current legislation and determine from the evidence what is needed to make the necessary changes for a safe and healthy future. One strand of this will look at options for enabling micromobility devices, and a consultation will be issued in due course.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to mitigate the effect on commuters of the strike on Southwestern Railway.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Department has been in regular contact with SWR since the Industrial Action was announced by RMT, to ensure that SWR was taking all possible steps to mitigate the impact of the RMT’s disproportionate action on passengers and provide as many services and as much capacity as possible during the strikes.