DVSA: Replace on driving check ready occasions restoration measures

An replace from DVSA

We wrote to you final 12 months about our determination to ask extra certified DVSA warrant card holders to check full time, to assist scale back driving check ready occasions. With the tip of March just a few weeks away, DVSA has plans in place for the subsequent steps.

From 1 April the extra certified warrant card holders might be returning to their regular duties. We’ve got additionally requested them to spend a small portion of their time doing automotive assessments within the coming months to assist proceed to cut back driving check ready occasions. We are going to replace you with extra particulars on this once we can.

This measure was by no means meant to be sustained on a long-term foundation because of the potential influence that may have on the opposite statutory companies DVSA presents.

Asking warrant card holders to renew their regular duties and check for a portion of their time will permit DVSA to return to delivering service ranges for different statutory companies it gives, while nonetheless working to cut back the driving check ready time. 

Thus far, this measure has created 125,284 further assessments in the direction of the goal of 150,000 and has helped scale back the ready time from its peak in August 2023 of 20.6 weeks to a median of 16.1 weeks in February 2024. This can be a transfer in the correct route however there may be nonetheless extra work to be carried out.

In addition to asking certified warrant card holders to proceed testing for a interval of their time till the tip of September, we’re additionally:

• persevering with to ask driving examiners from areas with decrease ready occasions to journey and check in centres with longer ready occasions.
• recruiting over 160 driving examiners within the areas the place ready occasions are highest.
• proceed to supply driving assessments throughout weekends and financial institution holidays
• elevating consciousness of the Able to Go? marketing campaign to learner drivers, their family and friends and ADIs by the not too long ago launched paid for social media exercise

The lengthy driving check ready occasions have lowered confidence in having the ability to get a driving check, and this has modified the way in which that assessments are booked. We are actually seeing assessments being booked a lot earlier within the studying to drive course of, which is affecting ready occasions. We’re working quite a lot of surveys to assemble perception to see what we will do to attempt to change this behaviour.

Asking so many skilled colleagues to check full-time was not meant to be sustainable long run. as asking them to take action past 6 months would doubtlessly influence the day-to-day work they do to enhance highway security.

Asking them to return to their regular jobs and proceed to spend a portion of their time testing will permit them to return to their important work. This contains:

• restarting the coverage initiatives throughout automobile security, enforcement and driver and rider testing which have been on maintain
• doing extra ADI half 2 and three assessments to extend the variety of ADIs accessible to learner drivers
• restarting our full programme of ADI engagement calls and requirements checks, and returning to regular ranges of CBT and vocational coach compliance and enforcement visits

All of those will begin to enhance from 1 April, however it would take a couple of weeks for issues to get again to regular – so please bear with us.