Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency uses to determine the allocation of practical driving test appointments across test centres; and whether he has plans to review that allocation to improve access for candidates in areas with limited local availability.

The number of tests available to book at any given driving test centre (DTC) is based on the number of driving examiners (DE) available to conduct tests at that DTC.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is committed to providing its customers, in all parts of the country, with the best service possible. DVSA continually reviews its estate, to ensure it represents good value for money and is efficient, and its workforce requirements in response to customer demand and operational need.

As part of this approach, DVSA has continued to run national recruitment campaigns for DEs across the country. These campaigns are intended to address recruitment pressures and improve driving test capacity, particularly in areas with the greatest demand.

The Government set out a comprehensive package of measures in April 2025 to tackle long waiting times, aiming to deliver around 10,000 additional tests per month. A key step was reintroducing overtime incentives. DVSA has also made changes to make the booking system fairer. These are practical steps to increase supply, protect access to tests, and bring waiting times down, across the country.