Driving Tests: Scunthorpe

Department for Transport written question – answered at on 27 July 2021.

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Photo of Holly Mumby-Croft Holly Mumby-Croft Conservative, Scunthorpe

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect on learner drivers of the Driver and Vehicle Safety Agency's decision to discontinue driving theory tests in Scunthorpe.

Photo of Holly Mumby-Croft Holly Mumby-Croft Conservative, Scunthorpe

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what impact assessment his Department or the Driver and Vehicle Safety Agency conducted on the decision to discontinue driving theory tests in Scunthorpe.

Photo of Holly Mumby-Croft Holly Mumby-Croft Conservative, Scunthorpe

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for learner drivers of the Driver and Vehicle Safety Agency's decision not to take-up the offer made by North Lincolnshire Council's offer to provide an alternative location for driving theory tests in Scunthorpe.

Photo of Holly Mumby-Croft Holly Mumby-Croft Conservative, Scunthorpe

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps (a) his Department and (b) the Driver and Vehicle Safety Agency plans to take to ensure that people with low incomes will not be negatively affected by the decision to discontinue driving theory tests in Scunthorpe.

Photo of Holly Mumby-Croft Holly Mumby-Croft Conservative, Scunthorpe

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps (a) his Department and (b) the Driver and Vehicle Safety Agency plans to take to ensure that people with disabilities will not be negatively affected by the decision to discontinue driving theory tests in Scunthorpe.

Photo of Holly Mumby-Croft Holly Mumby-Croft Conservative, Scunthorpe

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps (a) his Department and (b) the Driver and Vehicle Safety Agency plans to take to ensure that young people in North Lincolnshire will not be negatively affected by the decision to discontinue driving theory tests in Scunthorpe.

Photo of Holly Mumby-Croft Holly Mumby-Croft Conservative, Scunthorpe

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment officials in (a) his Department and (b) the Driver and Vehicle Safety Agency (DVSA) have made of the potential effect of the decision by the DVSA to discontinue driving tests in Scunthorpe on young people in North Lincolnshire.

Photo of Rachel Maclean Rachel Maclean Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has launched a new driving theory test booking service for England, Scotland, and Wales for theory tests taken from 6 September 2021. The DVSA’s priority remains to deliver a theory test that ensures candidates have the correct knowledge and understanding to be able to drive safely on our busy, modern roads.

The structure and content of the theory test will not change, but new software will mean it has a different look and feel. These changes will give the DVSA greater control of managing test content and enable it to update and improve questions and clips more quickly.

Third party suppliers will deliver the actual test to the public, and so from September there will be changes to the theory test centre estate. As the contract has been awarded to more than one company, the number of theory test centres will increase from 180 to 202 across Great Britain. The increased number of theory test centres will result in a more even distribution of test centre locations and will make theory tests more accessible, especially to those in remote areas of the country.

In creating a more even distribution, the location of many theory test centres will change and some places that currently have a theory test centre will no longer do so from 6 September.

The theory test centre in Scunthorpe, Unit 2A, Haldenby House, 1 Berkeley Roundabout, will be one of the affected locations. There are no current plans for a theory test centre in Scunthorpe, but the DVSA thanks the North Lincolnshire Council for its offer of help should that change. The nearest theory test centre for candidates will be in Doncaster and Grimsby.

The DVSA’s key performance measure is that a candidate should not have travel more than 40 miles (rural) or 40 minutes (urban) to get to a test centre unless they choose to travel further.

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