Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will assess the effects of the closure of the driving test centre in Kilmarnock on (a) costs incurred by driving instructors, (b) costs incurred by candidates and (c) traffic in the vicinity of nearby test centres.

There is no requirement to undertake driving tuition exclusively on test routes and instructors are encouraged to teach on a range of roads with varying traffic conditions. Whilst candidates will no doubt wish to be familiar with the test environment, the vast majority of tuition may be undertaken locally in Kilmarnock with no significant increase in cost to the instructor.

Approved Driving Instructors will charge what they feel is an appropriate rate for tuition. Since there is no significant increase in costs to instructors arising from the relocation to Irvine, there is no anticipated increase in cost for individual learner drivers. During any journey to the test centre location for the purposes of familiarisation , the pupil will be receiving tuition. This is not, therefore, unproductive time or an additional cost but a valuable part of the learning process.

Beyond day-to-day operational issues, there have been no reports of any adverse impact on traffic in the vicinity of nearby driving test centres.