Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for driving tests in (a) Preston, (b) Lancashire and (c) England.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times.

On the 23 April, the Secretary of State for Transport appeared before the Transport Select Committee and announced that DVSA will take further actions to reduce waiting times for all customers across Great Britain.

Further information on these actions and progress of DVSA’s plan to reduce driving test waiting times, which was announced in December 2024, can be found on GOV.UK.

From recent recruitment campaigns for the Preston and Lancashire areas, DVSA has a potential new driving examiner (DE) starting training next month.

DVSA will continue to recruit in the area and has had four successful potential new DEs from the latest campaign. Once background checks have been completed, DVSA will offer these candidates training courses.