Concerns over North Wales driving test backlog raised in Senedd

Long wait times for driving tests in North Wales have been raised in the Senedd, with North Wales MS Mark Isherwood calling for action from the Welsh Government to address growing concerns among local driving instructors.

Speaking during Wednesday’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament, Mr Isherwood highlighted ongoing issues faced by learner drivers and questioned the Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales over what steps he is taking to liaise with the UK Government.

Referring to correspondence from the North Wales Approved Driving Instructors Association (NWADIA), Mr Isherwood 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?”

Responding, the Cabinet Secretary confirmed he would meet with NWADIA and committed to investigating the data further.

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.”