Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of HGV testing capacity provided by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency in Southampton; what assessment she has made of the potential impact of examiner shortages on (a) vocational test volumes, (b) driver recruitment pipelines and (c) supply chain resilience in major port cities; and what steps she is taking to increase HGV testing capacity in those areas.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is committed to ensuring there are sufficient vocational driving tests to meet demand from the HGV and PSV training sector across the country, including in major port cities. In 2024/25, the national average waiting time for a vocational practical test was 4.9 weeks.

Whilst DVSA is continuing to deploy examiner resource to vocational testing, it needs to ensure this is done in a way which balances all of the demands on DVSA’s examiner resource.

DVSA business account managers are working closely with training providers to understand when and where large goods vehicle tests are required and if there is likely to be any peaks in demand.

There are several vocational test sites that serve customers in Southampton, and currently there are not any known delays in test availability for these sites. The vocational testing waiting time in the DVSA regional zone in which Southampton is situated, is currently 2.6 weeks. The national average, as of 9 February, is 3.9 weeks.