Driving test delays hit trainee paramedics and aspiring police officers, MPs say
Roads Minister Lilian Greenwood has been informed of the severe impact driving test delays are having, including on trainee paramedics, prospective police officers, and even an MP. She has pledged to address the backlog as a "priority".
MPs shared with Greenwood on Wednesday that constituents had been forced to travel vast distances, from Reading to Cornwall and Bracknell to Aberdeen, to obtain their driving licences. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) currently has over half a million tests booked at any given time.
Last year, the DVSA altered its terms and conditions to prevent the use of bots for booking and reselling test slots for profit.
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Labour MP Kevin McKenna spoke in Westminster Hall about a constituent's daughter who is "desperate" to become a police officer but cannot start her job without a driving licence.
Representing Sittingbourne and Sheppey in Kent, McKenna said: "She can’t start a job because she needs to be able to drive for the job, she’ll be working in shifts, all she could find was a driving test months down the line in Birmingham, 150 miles away. She’s one of the luckier constituents in that she could actually find one."
McKenna, aged 50, also disclosed his own challenges with learning to drive. "After the election, it finally forced my hand to learn to drive," he admitted to the PA news agency post-debate.
He added, "And then I started looking and hitting this problem and hearing from constituents and really digging into it and it’s like, well, how do I even plan to learn to drive? ".
Mr McKenna stated: "It doesn’t stop me getting around, to be fair, I’m quite good cadging lifts and I’ve got my bike and I can get around but not in the way that I really want to."
He further added, "So it’s moved it on – ‘let’s make that a next year project rather than right now’. And this is the kind of impact it’s having on all sorts of people."
He highlighted the struggles of those in construction and trade who "need a van and a lot of these are self-employed and setting up their own businesses – it’s really hard to do that if as well as learning the trade, they’re struggling to actually get through that basic hurdle which is the ability to move around". .
Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Paul Kohler shared an anecdote about a newly trained paramedic who faced a four-month wait to take the driving test required for an ambulance. Mr Kohler, the MP for Wimbledon, also described "a black market" which had emerged, "with individuals forced to compete with computer bots to book the precious few slots available when they come online".
Peter Swallow, who secured the debate, said constituents from his Berkshire patch had travelled to Wales, "which involved a costly round trip and an overnight stay all just to get a test sorted in a reasonable timeframe", the Isle of Wight and Aberdeen.
The Labour MP, who admitted to not passing his first driving test, remarked: "Honourable members will remember the great feeling of liberation of getting behind the wheel for their first time after passing their driving tests. It’s a rite of passage but instead of the moment of great excitement, it’s a source of punishing expense, confusion and misery."
The average waiting time for a test reached 19 weeks in September, as reported by the DVSA, which has started to buy back annual leave from its examiners. Since a rule change in January 2023, the agency has shut down 705 business accounts and handed out 766 suspensions to combat bots and brokers profiting from test bookings.
Conservative shadow transport minister Greg Smith acknowledged the bot issue "requires very firm action". He stated: "Post-pandemic, the Conservative government did take clear action. We opened up nearly 10% more driving tests every week than before the pandemic by the end of 2022 but despite the DVSA making a million extra tests available since the pandemic – a million extra tests – waiting times have remained stubbornly high."
"That’s partly because of a growing economy that the new Government has inherited and the demand that has created for new tests."
Ms Greenwood revealed that the DVSA has hired and is training 250 new driving examiners in 2024, with plans to recruit 200 more, "focusing on areas where demand is the highest".
She stated that "fixing this issue is a priority" and added: "We want learners who are ready to pass to be able to take their test quickly and easily at a location that’s convenient for them. We don’t want them to feel the need to take difficult decisions and compromises when it comes to taking a practical test."
She further emphasised, "And we need concrete measures that will make a real difference, and that’s why we’ve asked the DVSA to look at how their tests are booked and managed."