Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had recent discussions with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency on tackling the backlog at the Carmarthen and Llanelli driving test centres.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) recognises there is a high demand for learners who are wanting to take their practical driving test following the suspension of routine driver training and testing during the pandemic.

The DVSA is working hard to provide as many practical driving test appointments as possible and has a number of measures in place to do this.

These include:

• offering a national recovery allowance 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;
• conducting out of hours testing, such as on public holidays and weekends; and
• asking recently retired driving examiners to return to testing.

As of 22 March 2022, driving test waiting times at Carmarthen is 2 weeks, and Llanelli is 8 weeks.

The DVSA has a live recruitment campaign covering Carmarthen, Llanelli and Swansea, and has recently completed a campaign to recruit Welsh speaking driving examiners. The DVSA is also launching a new national campaign to recruit an extra 161 examiners across Great Britain to help meet the increasing demand for driving tests. This is in addition to its previous campaign to recruit more than 300 additional examiners.

The DVSA does not take the decision to cancel tests lightly and will only do so when it has exhausted every possible avenue and tried to find another examiner to provide cover. All available practical driving test appointments, including cancellations, are shown on the live booking system to everyone, including approved driving instructors (ADI), at the same time. Any additional tests are added as soon as they become available. The DVSA has a 24-week forward booking window and tests are not available to book beyond this.

Candidates, and ADIs, can check for earlier appointments at their local test centres on the gov.uk/change-driving-test services. Other candidates cancelling or rescheduling their test also free up slots for others to book, and appointments may be available at other nearby centres. The DVSA advises everyone to regularly check for new appointments.