With learner drivers in North Wales struggling to get driving tests, North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has asked the Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales what action he is taking to engage with the UK Government on the matter.
Raising the issue in today’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament, Mr Isherwood referred to the concerns of the North Wales Approved Driving Instructors Association, NWADIA, and asked the Cabinet Secretary to engage with them over the problems learner drivers are facing in securing a test.
He said:
“It's now nearly eight months since the North Wales Approved Driving Instructors Association, NWADIA, first copied North Wales MSs on their correspondence to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, DVSA, noting that the reduction in waiting lists for candidates to seven weeks you referred to had yet to be achieved. Eight months ago.
“Responding, the DVSA noted that August waiting times last year in the region ranged from 10.5 weeks in Wrexham to 18.5 in Rhyl. Last week's correspondence from NWADIA to the DVSA looked forward to meeting them virtually tonight, and stated, for example, they were told that the February waiting list was 7.6 weeks for Rhyl, 15.4 for Bangor, and overall 8.1 for Wales, when ‘the reality appears very different’, and asked, for example, whether the changes to the test are ‘a distraction from sorting out the test situation and issues with the booking systems?’, and whether the DVSA has ‘a budget from the UK Government that they allocate as they see fit?’. So, will you, therefore, engage with NWADIA and discuss their concerns with the UK Government?”
The Cabinet Secretary agreed to meet with them.
He said:
“It's pretty obvious from what Members are raising today that there seems to be a discrepancy between official figures and what we are hearing from other sources in terms of the average wait. I think we need to delve into those figures and check which are most robust, and ensure that the figures fully represent that technology that is being used by third parties to sell on booking slots and make profit from making people wait, quite frankly. So, I will meet with them and I will ascertain robust data and share it with Members.”
