The Government has dropped the deadline for reducing car driving test waiting times to seven weeks or fewer, as the Driving Instructors Association (DIA) challenges Ministers over the continued lack of progress in tackling the backlog.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) no longer has a fixed date by which it must bring waiting times down from their current average of almost six months.
While the seven-week target itself has not been abandoned, DVSA’s latest annual accounts state that there is now “no date set” for achieving the goal of a national car practical driving test waiting time of seven weeks or fewer.
The change raises further questions over how DVSA’s performance will be measured and what accountability remains when targets are repeatedly missed or pushed back.
Carly Brookfield, Chief Executive of the DIA, said: “The sad fact is DVSA can’t seem to meet the targets it sets itself, and removing the deadline does nothing to solve the problem. It simply removes another measure against which the agency can be held accountable.”
Driving test waiting times have remained a significant issue since the disruption caused by the pandemic, with the backlog never fully cleared despite repeated Government and DVSA initiatives aimed at increasing test capacity.
DIA has consistently raised concerns over test availability, examiner deployment, changes to the booking system and the impact these issues are having on learners and the driver training profession.
The association is now challenging Ministers over what comes next and is calling for greater scrutiny of progress under DVSA Chief Executive Beverly Warmington, particularly around engagement with those working directly within the industry.
Brookfield added: “We need to see much stronger engagement with the profession and a clear plan for how DVSA is actually going to make progress. Removing dates and deadlines cannot become a substitute for delivering results.”
DIA says it will continue to hold DVSA and wider Government to account both through industry collaboration and independently where it believes a more direct or timely response is needed.
Although Brookfield currently serves as Chair of the National Associations Strategic Partnership (NASP), DIA remains an independent professional membership body and says it will continue to speak out directly on issues affecting its members.
“Our members expect us to represent them and challenge the organisations making decisions that affect their businesses and pupils. We will continue to do that, independently where necessary.”
