- 4:47 pm
- I beg to move,That this House has considered the availability of driving tests.It is an honour to serve under you as Chair, Sir Roger.Driving test delays are a source of misery, anger and lost opportunity across my constituency and the country. Today a new learner will have to wait on average four and a half months for a driving test, which is more than double the wait nine years ago and nearly 50% higher than four years ago. New learners in my constituency must wait on average over five months for their test. Those are some of the worst waiting times in the country, and they have more than tripled since records began in 2015. That is five months during which my constituents’ travel, and therefore their ambitions, are severely restricted. Hon. Members will remember vividly the great feeling of liberation when getting behind the wheel for the first time after passing our driving tests. Today, that rite of passage, instead of a moment of great excitement, is a source of punishing expense, confusion and misery for too many of my constituents.Take, for example, my constituent Molly, who is having to pay to do her theory again because, like the majority of drivers, she failed her first practical, and now must wait another five months to take a test. I confess that I too did not pass my driving test the first time—a fact that my partner, who did pass first time, always likes to remind me whenever I offer backseat commentary on his handling of Bracknell’s many roundabouts—but what was for me a source of slight irritation is to Molly a significant logistical hurdle with real-world costs. Having struggled to book her test the first time, she now needs to go through the whole long process again. She faces paying continued expenses to keep up lessons, using public transport to get around and possibly retaking her theory simply because it has reached its two-year limit.Common also are stories like that of Therese, who, unable to find a test for her son for six months, booked him a test in Wales, which involved a costly round trip and an overnight stay, all just to get a test sorted in a reasonable timeframe. Other constituents have contacted me who have gone as far afield as the Isle of Wight and Aberdeen to get tests. Aberdeen is 500 miles from my constituency. When even simple systems like the provision of driving exams break down, inequalities deepen and opportunities dry up. Young people in my area are now seeing their career aspirations and their education take a hit as they look at a half-year delay before they can gain the independence of driving.There has been national and regional coverage of this story for years, since the 2020 spike in driving test demand, yet the previous Conservative Government failed to get a grip of the crisis. On the one hand, they talked a big game, asking examiners to work ever-longer hours in an ever-exhausting push for short-term solutions—then on the other, they blamed examiners for striking over pay and conditions. What did that fiddling around at the edges get us? Today, waiting lists are more than double where they were in August 2020 and young learners are exposed to more vicious test touting than at any time since.It is true that the DVSA responded to the immediate spike in 2020 by adding 1,000 more test slots and, over the year 2022-23, cancelling the accounts of more than 600 fake businesses abusing its service to block-book test slots just to sell them on, yet driving test centres in the year to March 2024 also cancelled more than 68,000 tests due to illness and industrial action. Driving instructors in my constituency tell me that that is often last minute and, due to the delays, pushes students back months. An increasing number of students are turning to the black market to get hold of tests, exposing themselves to fraud, abuse and spiralling hidden costs as test touters continue to exploit multiple flaws in the booking system to fuel their exploitative business models.
- My hon. Friend talked about driving instructors, and there is also a significant backlog in the driving tests required to qualify as a driving instructor. Does he agree that it is important that we look to address that backlog as well?
- Absolutely. I have also spoken to businesses in my constituency that have highlighted the huge difficulties with getting tests for driving larger minivans and lorries. This debate is about not just bog- standard driving tests to get on the road, although that is a significant issue, but the whole system-wide problem.Examiner illness is not something that the Conservative party can be blamed for, but whether it was striking doctors, nurses, train drivers or driving test examiners, the Conservative legacy is one of pushing workers to the brink then denying responsibility when industrial action is the inevitable result. I heard from my constituent Chris, a driving instructor, who explained how the local community of instructors are at their wits’ end over the issue, and feel powerless to stop students turning to the black market to book tests.Driving examiners in Bracknell are getting up before 6 am on a Monday morning, when local centres release a week’s worth of tests, and by 6.02 am every single slot is gone. Those tests are six months away, yet greedy and unscrupulous test touters are using bots and fake business accounts to block-book those sessions and sell them on at ludicrous premiums. My constituents are scraping together hundreds of pounds to pay double or triple the test price only to have their details cloned, and these black market operators then use them to squeeze others out of the market. Meanwhile, some learners are, more innocently, paying big fees to apps and websites that simply trawl the DVSA database and spot cancelled tests for drivers to book at the last minute, which has fuelled understandable concerns. The drivers are showing up to tests underprepared, winging it in the hope that they just about pass, rather than waiting five months to take a test when they are properly ready.I urge the Minister to set out what steps can be taken to end this financial abuse. The practice of test touting is against DVSA policy, but what more can we do to end it all together? Has the Minister considered whether the practice of reselling driving tests for profit can be made illegal—in line with our plans to tackle ticket touting—or can the system be fixed so that only legitimate driving instructors are able to transfer tests between their students?
- I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way, which is a nice thing to be able to say from the Back Benches here. He raises an important point and as he touches on insurance, I wonder whether I can bring in the issue of inadequate public transport, particularly in Madeley and in Betley in Newcastle-under-Lyme. I increasingly receive letters and emails from people who see their ability to secure a test after they have failed the first one now being pushed further and further away. The relevant period is rather like the five months that my hon. Friend refers to, but there is a double whammy because of the lack of any viable, meaningful, and affordable public transport, particularly in Madeley and Betley. Without that, and with the pressures of available driving tests being pushed further and further away, many of my constituents, like those in Bracknell, are left at breaking point.
- That is a fantastic point, and perhaps another day I could opine on our train links, which have not improved since the 1970s. That, I fear, is a debate for another day, but my hon. Friend’s point is an excellent one. Not only young people are affected, but many young people look to passing their driving test to give them a real sense of liberation and freedom. That is particularly true in communities where public transport, after 14 years of Conservative Government, is not where it should be. It therefore must absolutely be the priority of this Government to improve transport connectivity for all communities and, in particular, rural and semi-rural communities. It is clear that this Government must be—and are—on the side of the driver. For that reason, I urge the Minister to make real headway on this really important issue.This situation cannot continue. After years of chaos under the Conservatives, this Government have inherited a broken test system and must now fix another Tory mess. All the while, my constituents face unacceptable waits and undue stress. Passing the driving test should be a moment of great joy and freedom but, for too many, the journey to passing has become a one-way trip to frustration and misery.
- Several hon. Members rose—
- Order. Before we proceed, let me first point out that I am going to call those who have submitted letters. Not every Member present and not every Member rising has written in. I have to give priority to those who have submitted an application to participate in the debate first. The second point I have to make, sadly, is that this debate is very time limited indeed. I am going to have to impose a time limit of three minutes and I may have to reduce that.
- 5:00 pm
- I commend the hon. Member for Bracknell (Peter Swallow) for setting the scene. He is right to say that the issue of driving licences and the availability of driving tests is not specific to his constituency. It is an issue for the whole of the United Kingdom. I am very pleased to see the Minister in her place; I look forward to her contribution.Since the pandemic, there are still some areas of the United Kingdom suffering from increasingly long waiting times. Northern Ireland is not the responsibility of the Minister, to be fair, but since it adds to this debate, I want to make a contribution. The situation has improved only recently. It is good to be here to give the Northern Ireland perspective.I reiterate and endorse the comments that the hon. Member for Bracknell made about car insurance. My hon. Friend the Member for Upper Bann (Carla Lockhart) introduced a debate in the previous Parliament on that issue. Some of my constituents who have just got their first car and applied for insurance have had quotes of between £4,000 and £5,000. For some, it is four times the value of their car. That is what the insurance is just to get them on the road. The hon. Member for Bracknell was right to raise that issue.Figures released by the Department for Transport state that learner drivers face a wait of at least four months for their test—double the length of delays before the covid pandemic. It has also been said that it is largely due to the fact that appointments are released on a 24-week rolling basis. In Northern Ireland, there were increasingly long delays, especially over the summer months. One of my staff members waited four and a half months for a test date in her local area, just down the road from us. Cancellations are sparse due to the difficulty of getting a test to begin with.There are also concerns about the validity of the theory test, which can run out if the driving test is taken too late. In Northern Ireland, once a theory test is passed, there are two years until it is out of date. Someone can apply for a driving test, but might not get one first time round. They might have to wait for another test and all of a sudden the theory test is out of date and they have to start the whole process again. Many in Northern Ireland do not consider starting practical lessons until they have passed their theory test, so it is important that practical test backlogs are dealt with to ensure that theory tests do not run out and so that learner drivers do not have to resit them.
- 5:02 pm
- It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bracknell (Peter Swallow) for securing this debate on such an important issue. I speak for many Members across the House when I say what a pressing issue the lack of driving test availability is for so many in our constituencies. I have been contacted by many residents in Hastings and Rye who are trying to get driving tests, but face very long waits when they log on to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency system.The issue is having a big impact on many constituents. We have new parents hoping to get a driving test in time for the arrival of babies, people with caring responsibilities and also people who have a business need to secure a driving test. It is a really important issue that matters to many across our constituencies.I welcome the Labour Government’s commitment to cutting the waiting times for driving tests and making that a key priority. It is great that the Secretary of State has met the chief executive of the DVLA to really grip the problem and make it clear that it is a key priority, because it is such a pressing issue for many across our constituencies. I want to make sure that I leave plenty of time for colleagues to speak in this important debate, so I will end my remarks there.
- 5:04 pm
- It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Bracknell (Peter Swallow) for his excellent work on this important issue. I am also conscious of the time, so I will try to keep my remarks as brief as possible. I want to refer and underline some of the points made by my hon. Friend and other colleagues and also talk about the specific problems in Reading.First, it is important to restate how important it is to learn to drive. It is a rite of passage and an opportunity for young people—and many others, as my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye (Helena Dollimore) pointed out—to gain extra mobility, but also potentially to gain economic benefits by opening up the opportunities of a wider range of jobs. That is hugely important. Even in areas such as Reading, where there is excellent public transport, there are many people who rely on a car to travel, quite understandably, and that provides extra mobility and access to a wider range of services and job opportunities.The points that I would like to highlight regarding my own constituency really follow on from the points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Bracknell, and things, in many cases, are even worse. There are 250,000 people in the Reading urban area—we are the second-biggest urban area in the south-east of England—and there is a very young population, with many young people seeking to learn to drive, yet serious backlogs have been developing in the past few years. Some of that is connected to the pandemic, but I am afraid that the previous Government appear to have mismanaged this important public service, and my constituents, and those of neighbouring MPs, are suffering as a result.The issues of long waits and having to travel long distances are significant for many people in the Reading area. I have had constituents who have had to travel as far as—I cannot say Aberdeen—Cheshire, which is still a significant distance away, or East Anglia, and I have also heard of parents helping their son or daughter to book a test in Cornwall, during a family holiday there, because that was the only place that they could get a test.
- 5:07 pm
- Thank you, Sir Roger, for your chairmanship. It is a pleasure to speak in the debate, and I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bracknell (Peter Swallow) for introducing it. During covid lockdowns, 850,000 tests were cancelled, and the service has been struggling ever since. The demand for driving tests currently outweighs availability. Since 2023—so for over 18 months—the average wait time for a driving test in Portsmouth has been stuck around 24 weeks, but in 2019, it was eight weeks, so that is an increase of 200%. As we have heard, the true figure may well be bigger, because people are logging on and seeing 24 weeks and no appointments, so they could be waiting for longer.In the Portsmouth test centre, the pass rate is about 50%, so the average person is taking two tests and leaving at least a year to be test ready. That is causing huge financial and emotional impacts. In some cases, it impacts on people’s opportunities to go to work and live their lives. As we have heard, there is sometimes a need to retake their theory test.While many people are experiencing worse—I know we are not the lowest in the table—it is not a race to the bottom. My constituents have written to me to describe their distress at being unable to book a test in a reasonable time, and at the extortionate prices levied by touts who are reselling them, using the bot software that we have heard about. Like others, I welcome and echo the sentiments expressed about the Transport Secretary’s willingness to tackle that as a key priority for the Labour Government.Additional funding is required to tackle the enormous backlog in tests. That could be directed towards making additional driving test slots available, recruiting and retaining more examiners, and putting in place laws to stop those bot blockers. By doing that, we could improve the technology of the booking system to detect those problems, because the chief executive of the Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency, back in 2023, described the booking system as “end of life”. I would like to hear what we are able to do.
- 5:09 pm
- I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bracknell (Peter Swallow) for securing this important debate on an issue that matters deeply to many of our constituents. The national waiting time for driving tests is about four and a half months, but during the summer in my constituency of Kettering, that rose to six months. Someone ready for their test in July might still be waiting to take it in January next year. I recently spoke to the chair of the Kettering district area Driving Instructors Association, who told me that his members were all saying the same thing. Both instructors and pupils are frustrated by the lack of tests available and how frequently they are cancelled. Driving test slots are released every Monday at 6 am, but my constituents have told me that by 6.10 am, they are all gone. They say that often some slots are booked and, as we have heard, advertised on social media for up to £250.My constituents are trying to book their driving tests, not see Oasis. Between April 2023 and March this year, over 100,000 driving tests were cancelled, and 363 of those were at Kettering’s test centre. My constituents have told me that tests are regularly cancelled at a week’s notice, and some are cancelled as late as the day before. Many of us in the Chamber will remember how stressful learning to drive was and how nervous we were the day before our test. Those cancellations really amplify that. Pupils who are test ready then have to face their test being cancelled and the difficult choice of continuing to pay for lessons that they do not need or stopping and risking being rusty on the day of their test.There is no doubt that learners across the UK are confused and angry. Many learners are young people who need a driving licence to access work opportunities. After the Tory cost of living crisis and the chaos we have inherited, it is just not fair that young people are not able to access the opportunities they need to get into work. Would the Minister outline for my constituents what work the Government are doing to boost the number of driving tests available for people in Kettering and across the UK, and to reduce the number of tests that are cancelled at the last minute? Let us steer our new Labour Government towards a future of accessible and reliable driving tests for all our constituents.
- 5:12 pm