Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of available driving tests in Cheshire East.

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.

Cheshire East is served by a cluster of test centres including, Macclesfield, Buxton, Newcastle Cobridge and Crewe. DVSA also has a remote site at Northwich, which is resourced with driving examiners (DE) from Chester.

From recent recruitment campaigns, for the Macclesfield and Buxton cluster of test centres, two potential DEs are undertaking training with a further two awaiting confirmation of availability for a training course.

For the Crewe and Cobridge cluster of test centres, two potential DEs are ready to start training, with one starting on 14 July. DVSA has also made offers to two more potential DEs who will start their training at the earliest opportunity.