AQW 6320/17-22

Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry

Tabled Date: 04/09/2020
Answered On Date: 21/09/2020
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure whether she plans to prioritise driving tests for those who are unable to use public transport due to medical or other reasons.

Answer:

The Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA) resumed practical driving tests for cars and lorries from 1 September, initially prioritising those requests from around 200 high priority workers who have previously requested an urgent driving test and were at that time on a waiting list. The DVA is continuing to process requests for high priority workers and these customers will also be offered driving test appointments. Driving tests will also be offered to around 3,600 customers who had a driving test booked between March and June, but whose tests were cancelled due to the lockdown measures imposed to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

The DVA is making good progress in delivering driving tests for these customers and estimates it will take around 6 to 8 weeks to clear this backlog, anticipating a resumption of its normal service delivery from October/ November. While I fully appreciate there are many legitimate reasons why customers will want to take their practical driving test at the earliest opportunity, for prioritisation to be effective it needs to be focussed and be able to be managed by the DVA. The DVA is planning to reopen bookings for all new customers as soon as possible and to increase capacity for driving tests to deal with the likely high demand when normal service resumes. In doing so, this will improve driving tests services for all our customers, including those who are unable to use public transport due to medical or other reasons.