Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) average waiting time for a practical driving test and (b) number of staffing opportunities at test centres not yet filled was in each region of England in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency recruitment strategy.
Andrew Jones
The average waiting time for a car driving test for the 2015/16 financial year was 8.4 weeks. The average waiting time for a car test measured at the time of writing (24 May) was 11.5 weeks.
The following table explains the current driving examiner recruitment position:
|
New Recruits 2015/16 |
Planned Recruits 2016/17 |
completed training since 1 Apr 2016 |
currently undergoing training |
training start confirmed |
offer made – undergoing pre- employment check |
Ongoing recruitment (latest advert) |
|
|
Scotland & N England |
28 |
58 |
2 |
8 |
16 |
9 |
32 |
|
Central England & N Wales |
64 |
67 |
7 |
4 |
24 |
3 |
49 |
|
Southern England & S Wales |
59 |
58 |
9 |
8 |
30 |
2 |
45 |
|
London & S E England |
42 |
104 |
8 |
8 |
13 |
7 |
52 |
|
193 |
287 |
26 |
28 |
83 |
21 |
178 |
During 2015 DVSA carried out a review of the end to end process of driving examiner resourcing – from forecasting demand for driving tests to understand where and how many driving examiners are needed, through the attraction and selection stages of recruitment to offer of appointment and training. The overall assessment was that there was significant scope for improvement at all stages in the process. The recommendations of the review are being implemented and include:
- the use of improved forecasting models
- modernised attraction approaches
- more focussed assessment methods
- streamlined training programmes.
The overarching objectives are to shorten the time from a driving examiner vacancy being identified to it being filled. DVSA also wants to improve the diversity and capabilities of the new starters it appoints.
