Ben Howlett – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ben Howlett on 2016-02-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to improve waiting times at driving test centres in (a) Bristol, (b) Chippenham, (c) Trowbridge and (d) Westbury.

Andrew Jones

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is committed to reducing waiting times at Bristol, Chippenham, Trowbridge and Westbury and all other testing sites, and maintaining them at a lower level than currently seen across the UK, this is a priority for DVSA.

DVSA has run several recruitment campaigns during 2015, and continues to do so in 2016. However, due to the critical roles a driving examiner has to play in road safety, the process to recruit the right people
does take time. As a result of the campaigns, 139 new examiners have started work with DVSA and it has made offers of employment to another 115 people, who are currently undertaking training or waiting to attend it.