Waiting times for driving tests in south Warwickshire triple

THE current waiting time for a driving test at Warwick – the nearest practical test centre to Stratford – is 24 weeks. Before Covid it was six to eight weeks.

Despite strenuous efforts by the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) to tackle the problem in Warwickshire and the rest of the UK, it is proving to be stubbornly intractable.

And matters have been further complicated by the fact that unscrupulous profiteers are taking advantage of the crisis by placing block bookings online and then selling them – sometimes for hundreds of pounds – to learner drivers desperate to take their test.

The situation is so acute that Stratford MP Manuela Perteghella has been bombarding the government and the DVSA with demands for action to deal with what she sees as a crisis for many young people and families, especially those in rural areas.

Ms Perteghella told the Herald: “I became aware of the issue because I was contacted by some constituents who told me they or their children were not able to book a test. It’s made worse because we’re a rural constituency and bus services are not that great. If you have to wait six or seven months – in one case they waited a year – it is too much.

“It is badly affecting young people. Many of them rely on a driving licence for their employment.”

One driving instructor told the Herald that the current waiting time for a test in Warwick – the nearest testing centre to Stratford – was five months and a week.

The instructor, who did not wish to be identified, said the problems began with the Covid crisis four years ago and had not improved since. Before Covid, the average waiting time for a driving test was six to eight weeks.

The DVSA had introduced more tests and recruited more examiners, said the instructor, but it had “not made much impact in Warwick”.

“I have to tell my pupils to book a test at six o’clock on a Monday morning,” said the instructor. “By Monday evening the whole week will be full. It’s that quick.”

Lack of availability of tests in Warwick often meant drivers were forced to travel further afield – in one case as far as Ludlow in Shropshire (and several times, because the driver failed the test!).

It’s easy to see how Covid created the backlog crisis. Through-out lockdown, 2,500 people a day passed the age of 17 (when they became eligible to drive) and the waiting list mounted because the restrictions meant tests could not take place when the whole country had effectively shut up shop.

“The list rose to at least 500,000, and they’ve not been able to clear that,” said the instructor.

And the profiteers are exploiting the crisis by offering driving test dates via apps for well over £200 when a practical test normally costs £62 on a weekday, rising to £75 for an evening, weekend or bank holiday slot.

In a recent written Commons question Ms Perteghella asked the transport secretary if she would consider imposing fines or other sanctions on companies that used automated software programmes to buy driving test appointments.

Roads minister Lilian Greenwood replied that in order to ensure fairness for everyone booking a practical driving test, the DVSA worked hard to combat the “unscrupulous practice of reselling tests, often at significant profit”.

She said: “The agency encourages all customers to book a test through the official channel on Gov.uk where customers can book, change and cancel tests. The agency does not licence any service to resell test slots.

“DVSA is deploying enhanced bot protection on its public facing booking system to stop automated systems from buying up tests unfairly. These applications, however, are constantly evolving and changing and DVSA continues to take steps to block cancellation services from accessing the booking system”

Ms Perteghella also sought a meeting with Loveday Ryder, chief executive of the DVSA to discuss the crisis in Warwickshire, but the timing was considered inappropriate because Ms Ryder said she would be discussing with ministers over the coming weeks how her organisation and the government could work together to uphold road safety while bringing down waiting times for learner drivers.

In a letter to Ms Perteghella, Ms Ryder said: “I would like to assure you that our priority, at this time, is to reduce car practical driving test waiting times while upholding road safety standards. We are working hard to provide as many practical driving test appointments as possible at all test centres.”

She added: “To increase the number of available test appointments, we are conducting tests outside of regular hours, including on weekends and on public holidays, and buying back annual leave from driving examiners.

Ms Ryder said two new examiners started in the Warwick driving test centre (DTC) during October, and the centre would begin to deliver a full programme of tests from mid-late December.

“We have also made employment offers to two additional applicants who are due to begin their training courses in January,” she said. “In addition to this, an additional examiner is due to transfer into Warwick DTC from another part of the country in March.

Although the nearest practical driving test centre to Stratford is at Warwick, learner drivers can still take theory tests in Stratford.