Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to provide people who paid a broker to obtain a driving test with financial support.

Since April 2021, the recovery measures put in place by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) to reduce car practical driving test waiting times, together with the ongoing recruitment of driving examiners, is creating approximately 40,000 extra car test appointments each month. These measures include 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.

As of 18 September 2023, there were 561,275 car practical driving tests booked, and 64,817 driving tests available within the 24-week booking window.

The DVSA is aware of some people who have been using apps and bots to find a test date. These apps or bots are not approved by the DVSA as they 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. Using such services also means that any changes to the test may not necessarily be relayed to the candidate.

The DVSA will also continue to inform candidates of the official channels for booking a test. The DVSA has taken measures to encourage learners to use the official booking site on GOV.UK by ensuring that it appears as high as possible on popular search engines and by promoting the official website on social media.

The fees for the services that the DVSA offers have remained largely the same for over 10 years. The car driving test fee was last changed in 2009 and has not kept up with inflation. The fee for a driving test represents a relatively small component of the overall cost of learning to drive.