Newslink March
Motor Schools Association of Great Britain; driver training and testing
Motor Schools Association of Great Britain; driver training and testing
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News<br />
DVSA focused on the waiting times –<br />
and changes to test delivery<br />
DVSA chief executive Loveday Ryder<br />
addressed ADIs in her latest Despatch<br />
blog post at the start of February, in<br />
which she set out her plans for 2023.<br />
Many members will have read it, but we<br />
are aware that not everyone picks up on<br />
the DVSA’s social media<br />
communications, and so we have<br />
decided to publish it here, as it contains<br />
some very important messages<br />
regarding the future of driver training<br />
and testing.<br />
We have also added some of the<br />
comments expressed by ADIs, as well as<br />
MSA GB comments.<br />
LR: In this blog post, I want to update<br />
you on what’s coming up in 2023,<br />
including continuing our work in bringing<br />
driving test waiting times down, the<br />
launch of our new campaign website,<br />
investing in our people and new<br />
technologies, and more.<br />
Continuing our work to reduce<br />
waiting times<br />
LR: 2022 was difficult for many of us<br />
and we know that driving test waiting<br />
times are affecting ability to take on new<br />
customers. We have been working with<br />
NASP closely to listen to your views, and<br />
we’ll continue to do this.<br />
Much of our work will still be focused<br />
on bringing test waiting times down to<br />
nine weeks. Although we made<br />
significant progress last year, there is still<br />
much work to be done. There are many<br />
projects and activities that are all<br />
contributing to this.<br />
MSA GB says: Readers will recall that<br />
we openly challenged the DVSA’s<br />
prediction that waiting times would be<br />
down to nine weeks by December as<br />
highly unlikely, and warned that<br />
‘over-promising, under-delivering’ would<br />
be a foolish way of getting ADIs on side.<br />
We take no comfort in the<br />
acknowledgement that we were right,<br />
but have to now ask, if the existing<br />
steps haven’t improved the situation on<br />
L-test waiting times, why should a<br />
firmer application of the same strategy<br />
provide better results?<br />
With scores of young would-be<br />
learners coming on stream every day,<br />
the position looks to us as if we are in<br />
for a never-ending period of longer test<br />
waiting times. The simple truth is, the<br />
backlog of potential candidates denied<br />
the chance of taking their test for 12<br />
months due to the pandemic are only<br />
just clearing the system, and they are<br />
immediately being replaced by the<br />
thousands of teenagers who started<br />
learning to drive in the immediate<br />
aftermath of the pandemic and who are<br />
now ready for tests.<br />
If we are in a position where, barring<br />
an unlikely set of circumstances, the<br />
L-test waiting time will always be higher<br />
than 10 weeks, the DVSA needs to<br />
come out and say that now, so everyone<br />
is aware of the situation. It would be<br />
better to work to standardise<br />
waiting times across the<br />
country rather than<br />
keeping on claiming it is<br />
in sight of hitting a target<br />
that it can never achieve.<br />
Look out for our Ready to<br />
Pass?’ new and improved<br />
campaign site<br />
LR: Please take a look at our new<br />
‘Ready to Pass?’ website. The new site’s<br />
better functionality will make it easier for<br />
you to find and access resources that will<br />
help you and provide bespoke content<br />
spaces for each of our audiences.<br />
We will also be running a trial to boost<br />
our campaign communications by<br />
working with an external media agency.<br />
This is so that our messages can be seen<br />
more often and in more places by learner<br />
drivers and help encourage them to<br />
check that they are completely ready<br />
before taking their test.<br />
Transforming the driver services<br />
delivery model<br />
LR: We’re creating a modern, flexible<br />
driver testing service that will look at<br />
different ways to deliver driving tests.<br />
This will allow us to see whether we can<br />
be less dependent on a fixed estate and<br />
react where the road and traffic<br />
conditions near a centre have evolved<br />
and no longer provide the best<br />
environment in which to assess a<br />
candidate’s ability to drive.<br />
We recently began trials at two driving<br />
test centres Doncaster and Birmingham<br />
(Kings Heath) to see whether there is<br />
potential for the practical test to be less<br />
dependent on fixed estate and building<br />
on current and future technologies.<br />
A new approach to training<br />
We’re supporting training organisations<br />
to carry out effective manoeuvres tests<br />
and reintroduce training for new<br />
delegated vocational examiners for<br />
resilience and flexibility. We’ll<br />
also explore conducting driving<br />
tests from locations other<br />
than our driving test centres.<br />
We want to explore the<br />
benefits to you and your<br />
pupils of having more flexible<br />
Loveday Ryder<br />
06 NEWSLINK n MARCH 2023
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