Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-04-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether it remains his policy that Learn Direct will take over the driving theory test contract from September 2016; what arrangements have been made between Learn Direct and the current contract holder to ensure a smooth handover; and what the total cost to the public purse was of the procurement process and associated fees.

Andrew Jones

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and learndirect have concluded an exit from the contract for the provision of the UK Driving Theory Test, which was due to transfer to learndirect in September 2016. Pearson Professional Assessments Ltd (formally Pearson Driving Assessments Ltd) will therefore continue to provide the service for some time.

The cost of running the procurement process was reported to have been £510,380. This covers pay costs of £350,865 and £159,515 non-pay costs, which consists primarily of professional fees.