Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the length of time a driving theory test is valid for to tackle the backlog for practical tests.

The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place to ensure a customer’s road safety knowledge and ability to identify developing hazards is current. This validity period is set in legislation, and the Government has no current plans to lay further legislation to extend it. It is important road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point a person drives unsupervised for the first time.