Plan to let L-drivers book in at library to sit test

Transport Correspondent

Monday 11 April 2011

DRIVING test centres are to be relocated to libraries, community centres and supermarkets to avoid lengthy journeys by learner drivers to sit their examinations.

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DAMIEN HENDERSON Transport Correspondent

The shake-up of the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) has been ordered by the UK Government after protests that cut-backs instigated under Labour have left many remote and rural areas in the UK without a local driving test centre.

There are currently 402 test centres across Britain, including 96 in Scotland. Figures given to The Herald show 107 centres have either closed or been merged since 2006, while only 67 have been opened.Documents leaked to the Public and Commercial Services Union last month revealed plans by the DSA to halve the number of test centres again to 200 to save on administration costs.However the DSA said the closure programme had now been halted and it was conducting pilots to see if tests could be provided at premises “other than test centres”.A spokesman for the government agency said: “We are looking at how we can be more flexible and innovative in our approach to test delivery, and provide a more local service for candidates. “This could involve using premises other than test centres to deliver driving tests. “We will be running pilot schemes to make sure that any new arrangements provide the right level of service for candidates.”A formal announcement on the Coalition’s plans is expected shortly but details have emerged during parliamentary exchanges between Mike Penning, Transport Minister, and MPs campaigning to keep their local test centres open.In response to a debate organised by Sandra Osborne, Labour MP for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock, Mr Penning said he had an “open mind” about where tests were delivered.“What I am doing – I have asked my officials to proceed with this, and they have already started – is speaking to local stakeholders, including councils in the areas where closures are taking place, to see whether we can deliver a service … that is not about bricks and mortar, but about tests being given,” he said.“I do not mind if it is in a hotel or a supermarket; indeed, if the libraries in (Mrs Osborne’s) constituency stay open, I do not mind if it is based in one of their car parks or in a civic centre.”The test centres are self-funding, with costs paid by learners sitting their tests. But is thought the savings would help pay for the £71 million cost of building 66 multi-purpose test centres across Britain.The moves have been welcomed by driving instructors, who complained that learner drivers were being forced to undergo lengthy journeys on fast roads before they had even sat their test. Howard Redwood, head of road safety at the Driving Instructors Association, said: “We’re broadly in favour of this as it keeps delivery of tests at a local level and avoids people having to travel too far.”Opposition politicians campaigning to keep their local test centres open in Ayrshire and Angus have also welcomed the latest development, though there were calls yesterday for more details on whether the premises used by the DSA were suitable.Mike Weir, the Nationalist MP for Angus, who has campaigned against transferring testing from two local centres to Dundee, said: “I would welcome this in principle but would question whether it is really cheaper than the current system.”Mrs Osborne, who has been campaigning to save test centres in Cumnock and Girvan, welcomed the change of policy, saying “common sense has prevailed”.A spokesman for the RAC Foundation added: “If the DfT really can deliver local services for local people then great. But if test centres are closed and cost and inconvenience is then heaped on drivers this would hardly be progress.”

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Plan to let L-drivers book in at library to sit test

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