NEWSLINK January 2024_compressed

The ADIs’ view...
A look back... and a look forward
Happy new year!
In January it’s always a good idea to reflect on
the past 12 months, and look forward to the
year ahead. We asked a few of Newslink’s
regular contributors some questions on how
they saw 2023, and what they were hoping
2024 would bring.
Here’s what they came up with...
What was your personal highlight of 2023?
Arthur Mynott: Playing the Golf Tour in
October with DIGA (the Driving Instructors
Golf Association) on The Wirral. A great few
days away. Also hosting a successful MSA GB
West Coast & Wales Area Conference in
November.
Janet Stewart: Riding along a beach in
Morocco on a quality horse.
Colin Lilly: Taking more short breaks in
parts of the country I have not visited before,
and growing fresh vegetables in our garden.
John Lomas: Managing to get to a regional
meeting!
Steven Porter: I got to go to a Superbikes
meeting at Donnington racetrack for the first
time to see a friend of mine’s son-in-law
whose career I’ve been following for last
couple of years.
My youngest got invited into the pits to
meet John McPhee and the team with his
bike. Oh, and my twin’s 21st birthday
celebrations.
Rob Beswick: My twin daughters’ A level
results, which were stunning and got them in
to the universities they wanted, and my
eldest daughter getting a 2:1 in her degree,
which landed her a job with Balfour Beatty.
I’m the first person in my family since the
1800s not to be an engineer, so for my
daughter to start a career as a geological
engineer was a proud moment.
What’s your biggest regret from the year?
AM: Attending the funeral of my last
surviving uncle.
JS: Not galloping said horse in Morocco
faster and longer!
CL: Not retiring from learner driver training
at the end of 2022. This year the pupils’
objectives seem to have changed, and the
quest for an early test is more important than
learning to drive safely. Sadly, probably the
least enjoyable of a 45-year career.
JL: Unfortunately, it looks like my eyes
aren’t going to allow much more driving. I can
still pass the optician’s chart test, but
Highlight? Riding a quality
horse along a beach in
Morocco... Regret? Not
galloping it for much longer!
daylight runners on oncoming cars are
causing flaring, so it may be time to hang up
the keys.
SP: Not getting to go on holiday this year,
instead bowing down to my good lady and
getting a kitchen!
RB: I could say Stockport County losing in a
play-off final on penalties... but I’ll try to stay
highbrow and say my continued inability to
submit an FOI request to the DVSA which
gets me the information I want first time.
How would you mark the year out of 10
- and why?
AM: 7. Lovely, long hot summer but very
wet autumn!
JS: 8/10, because I did not allow myself to
be pushed by desperate pupils.
CL: 7. Driver training became less
enjoyable. I realise I made a mistake returning
to learner drivers after the Covid lockdown.
JL: 8 or 9 – because I am still waking up in
the morning, so that’s a good start!
SP: Probably 8.5 out of 10. Business wise
it’s been as good as I want it to be, personally
I’ve done some things I haven’t done before
and spending this time with my family was an
added bonus.
RB: 8. Daughters’ successes and a great,
possibly last, big family holiday in Crete, plus
the completion of some major house
renovations, could have pushed it higher, but
the sad death of my brother-in-law after a
brave fight with dementia put a dampener on
the year.
What was your biggest disappointment -
from an ADI’s point of view …?
JS: The performance of the DVSA.
CL: The change of focus among the pupils
to the constant search for a cancellation test,
rather than focus on improving their driving
to reach test standard.
SP: This never ending waiting list and trying
to change your business to suit it by booking
tests as soon as pupils have passed their
theory, trying to look six months down the
line, then having to swap tests about when
they haven’t got up to test standard.
RB: The DVSA’s lack of critically aware
thinking on waiting times. Setting a goal of
8-12 weeks by December 2022 was
laughable as it was clearly unachievable, and
continuing to claim that was the aim in 2023
simply built up false hopes. They should have
been braver with both the Government in
demanding more help, and with ADIs in telling
the story as it is.
How would you mark the DVSA’s
performance in 2023 - and why?
AM: I would have to give them a poor mark
because of their continued failure to reduce
test waiting times.
JS: I would give the DVSA 5/10 because
they are trying – but they are also very
trying.
CL: 8 for effort, 4 for results. There’s no
doubt they have made a lot of effort trying to
reduce the waiting list. Bringing all warrant
card holders back to testing felt like their last
gasp, but it’s still not enough.
SP: This is going to sound like I’m sticking
up for them, but I do feel for them (in a way)
that Covid and the strikes have made it
extremely difficult to make progress on
reducing waiting times. However, if they paid
their examiners a decent wage (the
Government, that is), more people would
become examiners and we wouldn’t have
such a lengthy waiting list, I think. The DVSA’s
mark? Could do better.
RB. 4. You can’t knock the effort but it’s felt
like rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic
at times.
If you were forcing the DVSA to make a New
Year’s Resolution, what would it be?
AM: Interact better with ADIs and listen to
The DVSA must.... Interact better with ADIs and listen to them...
upgrade their systems properly and not on the cheap... achieve
some autonomy from Government.... pay its examiners more...
and trust only ADIs to book L-tests...
36 NEWSLINK n JANUARY 2024