Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to (a) reduce waiting times for drivers to take practical tests and (b) license new driving test centres.

People can book driving tests up to 6 months before they take their test.

As of 26 June 2023, there were 546,545 car practical driving tests booked, and 54,480 driving tests available within the 24-week booking window.

Since April 2021, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has created over one million extra car test appointments by recruiting new examiners, conducting out-of-hours testing, such as on public holidays and weekends, 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 asking recently retired driving examiners to return. On average, this has created approximately 39,000 extra car test appointments each month.

The DVSA does not licence driving test centres.