Asked by: Robert Neill (Conservative - Bromley and Chislehurst)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will reinstate emergency driving tests for critical workers.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
To help stop the spread of coronavirus, routine driving tests have been suspended in all areas of England, Scotland and Wales.
In England and Wales, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) will respond to requests for driving tests from organisations on behalf of frontline mobile emergency workers, who require a driving licence to carry out duties in their employment role. This service is restricted to candidates working in health and social care, and public bodies providing a service in the national interest. The DVSA will contact eligible organisations.
Approved driving instructors and trainers can return to work only for the purpose of supporting a mobile emergency worker with a booked test.
Asked by: Patricia Gibson (Scottish National Party - North Ayrshire and Arran)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to extend Driving Theory Test certificates, in view of the fact that many learner drivers find their certificates will expire before the current period of lockdown is likely to end.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place for road safety reasons; to ensure that a candidate’s knowledge 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 that road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point that they drive unsupervised for the first time. Those with theory test certificates expiring may have taken their test in early 2019. Since then, their lessons and practice sessions will have been significantly curtailed during recent lockdowns and it is likely that their knowledge base will have diminished. Research suggests that this would be particularly harmful for hazard perception skills, a key factor in road safety.
Ensuring new drivers have current relevant knowledge and skills is a vital part of the training of new drivers, who are disproportionality represented in casualty statistics. Taking all this into consideration, the decision has been made not to extend theory test certificates and learners will need to pass another theory test if their certificate expires.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to extend the validity of driving theory tests due to the January 2021 covid-19 lockdown.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place for road safety reasons; to ensure that a candidate’s knowledge 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 that road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point that they drive unsupervised for the first time. Those with theory test certificates expiring may have taken their test in early 2019. Since then, their lessons and practice sessions will have been significantly curtailed during recent lockdowns and it is likely that their knowledge base will have diminished.
Ensuring new drivers have current relevant knowledge and skills is a vital part of the training of new drivers, who are disproportionality represented in casualty statistics. Taking all this into consideration, the decision has been made not to extend theory test certificates and learners will need to pass another theory test if their certificate expires.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government plans to take to reduce the disruption to key workers who have had vital driving tests cancelled since 2020 due to the covid-19 outbreak and are now at risk of being unable to work.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
To help stop the spread of coronavirus, driving tests have been suspended in all areas of England, Scotland and Wales.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is not currently offering a critical worker service in England or Scotland. In Wales, the DVSA is responding to requests only from the Welsh ambulance trust for the testing of ambulance drivers.
In England and Wales, essential delegated bus and emergency service testing will continue where they are identified as an operational priority by bus companies and the emergency services.
The DVSA is in discussions with all Governments to address critical worker services in England, Scotland and Wales.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to make driving tests available for critical workers who may require them.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Following the announcement of the national lockdown in England, all practical driving lessons and tests have been suspended. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is not currently offering a critical worker service. However, essential delegated bus and emergency service testing, including ambulance tests, will continue where they are identified as a priority by bus companies, the emergency services or NHS trusts.
The DVSA will continue to keep critical worker tests under review and announce any changes on its social media platforms.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will extend the period of validity of theory tests for learner drivers who have had their driving test cancelled as a result of covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place for road safety reasons; to ensure that a candidate’s knowledge 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 that road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point that new drivers drive unsupervised for the first time. Those who have not been able to practice are most likely to see their knowledge base diminish and research suggests that this would be particularly harmful for hazard perception skills.
Ensuring new drivers have current relevant knowledge and skills is a vital part of the training of new drivers, who are disproportionality represented in casualty statistics. Taking all this into consideration, the decision has been made not to extend theory test certificates and learners will need to pass another theory test if their certificate expires.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will extend the validity of driving theory tests to take into account the cancellation of practical driving tests during lockdown measures.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place for road safety reasons; to ensure that a candidate’s knowledge 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 that road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point that new drivers drive unsupervised for the first time. Those who have not been able to practice are most likely to see their knowledge base diminish and research suggests that this would be particularly harmful for hazard perception skills.
Ensuring new drivers have current relevant knowledge and skills is a vital part of the training of new drivers, who are disproportionality represented in casualty statistics. Taking all this into consideration, the decision has been made not to extend theory test certificates and learners will need to pass another theory test if their certificate expires.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will extend the expiry date of driving theory tests for people who have had their practical driving test cancelled during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The two-year validity period of the theory test certificate is set in legislation and the Government has taken the decision not to lay further legislation to extend it. The primary reason is that the two-year validity is in place to ensure that a candidate’s theoretical knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point they drive on their own for the first time. Extending the validity would provide less reassurance that this is the case. Those whose certificate previously expired and have since passed the theory test will now have a further two years in which to pass the practical test.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October to Question 102858 on Driving Tests: Coronavirus, how many theory test certificates expired during the 6 months following the passing of the Coronavirus Act 2020 without the candidate sitting their practical test within the required timescale; and what the comparable figures are for the same six month period in the previous three years.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
A total of 99,892 theory test certificates expired during the 6 months following the passing of the Coronavirus Act 2020 without a practical test being passed.
The table below shows the comparable figures for the same 6-month period in the previous 3 years are as follows:
2019 | 97,573 |
2018 | 96,378 |
2017 | 89,462 |
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the number of theory test certificates that will expire during the 12 months following the passing of the Coronavirus Act 2020 without the candidate being able to sit a practical test within the required timescale.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The validity period of the theory test certificate is 2 years.
The total number of theory test passes between 25 March 2018 – 25 March 2019 is 1,005,789.
It is not possible to estimate how many of those will expire without the candidate being able to sit a practical test.