Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the effect of online driving test services and digital applications nationally marketing cancelled driving tests on local availability of driving tests.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) does not take the decision to cancel driving 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 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 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 is aware of apps or bots that constantly search its system for driving test slots. These are not approved by the DVSA and make it harder for candidates to get a test and can also result in people paying more for a test than the official test fee. There is also a risk that candidates may not receive important information about their test. The DVSA has invested in making it harder for bots to access its booking services and there has been a significant drop in traffic to these services due to successfully identifying and blocking bots. The DVSA will continue to inform candidates of the official channels for booking a test.