Written questions by Lamont.

How much of the planned £5 million towards the feasibility study for the extension of the Borders Railway to Hawick and Carlisle has been released to Scottish Borders Council.

Earlier this year, the Department reaffirmed its commitment of up to £5m towards feasibility work on the extension of the Borders Railway. As part of this, the Department has allocated c. £130k of funding to support the development of a Strategic Outline Business Case to explore ways to improve public transport across the region.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to the LNER timetable on (a) the local economy, (b) tourism, and (c) connectivity in the Scottish Borders.

As the new East Coast Main Line timetable has been developed, both the Department and the operators, including LNER, TransPennine Express and CrossCountry, have considered the effect on local economies and tourism along the route. This includes the Scottish Borders area, where extra services and stops have been introduced in the last few years to maintain connectivity in advance of the London services being revised this December, and further Scottish Border local services will be introduced in December.

What recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of waiting times for driving tests on people seeking a driving licence.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times. On the 23 April, the Secretary of State for Transport appeared before the Transport Select Committee and announced that DVSA will take further actions to reduce waiting times for all customers across Great Britain. These actions include incentivised additional testing offers for driving examiners, doubling permanent training capacity for new driving examiners, and a call for volunteers from those currently in other roles (but qualified to examine) to carry out practical driving tests. As acknowledged in the announcement regarding these measures, DVSA understands the potential impact high waiting times have on learner drivers,  and the importance of helping learners pass quickly.DVSA conducted 10,400 additional tests in June 2025 as a result of the additional test allowance, which was introduced on 1 June 2025. DVSA conducted 10,638 additional tests in July 2025. The 10,400 and 10,638 additional tests are as a comparison with the number we conducted in the equivalent scheme in June and July 2024.The table below shows the average waiting times in July at (a) Hawick, (b) Galashiels, (c) Kelso, (d) Duns and (e) Berwick-On-Tweed test centres.LocationAverage Waiting Times July 25Hawick22.3 WeeksGalashiels23.5 WeeksKelso24 WeeksDuns24 WeeksBerwick22.8 Weeks

What steps she is taking to reduce the length of waiting times for driving tests.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times. On the 23 April, the Secretary of State for Transport appeared before the Transport Select Committee and announced that DVSA will take further actions to reduce waiting times for all customers across Great Britain. These actions include incentivised additional testing offers for driving examiners, doubling permanent training capacity for new driving examiners, and a call for volunteers from those currently in other roles (but qualified to examine) to carry out practical driving tests. As acknowledged in the announcement regarding these measures, DVSA understands the potential impact high waiting times have on learner drivers,  and the importance of helping learners pass quickly.DVSA conducted 10,400 additional tests in June 2025 as a result of the additional test allowance, which was introduced on 1 June 2025. DVSA conducted 10,638 additional tests in July 2025. The 10,400 and 10,638 additional tests are as a comparison with the number we conducted in the equivalent scheme in June and July 2024.The table below shows the average waiting times in July at (a) Hawick, (b) Galashiels, (c) Kelso, (d) Duns and (e) Berwick-On-Tweed test centres.LocationAverage Waiting Times July 25Hawick22.3 WeeksGalashiels23.5 WeeksKelso24 WeeksDuns24 WeeksBerwick22.8 Weeks

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the measures the DVSA implemented to help reduce waiting times for driving tests that she announced to the Transport Select Committee on 23 April 2025.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times. On the 23 April, the Secretary of State for Transport appeared before the Transport Select Committee and announced that DVSA will take further actions to reduce waiting times for all customers across Great Britain. These actions include incentivised additional testing offers for driving examiners, doubling permanent training capacity for new driving examiners, and a call for volunteers from those currently in other roles (but qualified to examine) to carry out practical driving tests. As acknowledged in the announcement regarding these measures, DVSA understands the potential impact high waiting times have on learner drivers,  and the importance of helping learners pass quickly.DVSA conducted 10,400 additional tests in June 2025 as a result of the additional test allowance, which was introduced on 1 June 2025. DVSA conducted 10,638 additional tests in July 2025. The 10,400 and 10,638 additional tests are as a comparison with the number we conducted in the equivalent scheme in June and July 2024.The table below shows the average waiting times in July at (a) Hawick, (b) Galashiels, (c) Kelso, (d) Duns and (e) Berwick-On-Tweed test centres.LocationAverage Waiting Times July 25Hawick22.3 WeeksGalashiels23.5 WeeksKelso24 WeeksDuns24 WeeksBerwick22.8 Weeks

What the average waiting time is for driving tests at (a) Hawick, (b) Galashiels, (c) Kelso, (d) Duns and (e) Berwick-On-Tweed test centres.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times. On the 23 April, the Secretary of State for Transport appeared before the Transport Select Committee and announced that DVSA will take further actions to reduce waiting times for all customers across Great Britain. These actions include incentivised additional testing offers for driving examiners, doubling permanent training capacity for new driving examiners, and a call for volunteers from those currently in other roles (but qualified to examine) to carry out practical driving tests. As acknowledged in the announcement regarding these measures, DVSA understands the potential impact high waiting times have on learner drivers,  and the importance of helping learners pass quickly.DVSA conducted 10,400 additional tests in June 2025 as a result of the additional test allowance, which was introduced on 1 June 2025. DVSA conducted 10,638 additional tests in July 2025. The 10,400 and 10,638 additional tests are as a comparison with the number we conducted in the equivalent scheme in June and July 2024.The table below shows the average waiting times in July at (a) Hawick, (b) Galashiels, (c) Kelso, (d) Duns and (e) Berwick-On-Tweed test centres.LocationAverage Waiting Times July 25Hawick22.3 WeeksGalashiels23.5 WeeksKelso24 WeeksDuns24 WeeksBerwick22.8 Weeks

How many driving test examiners have been employed by the DVSA in each month since July 2024.

Since July last year, up to and including July 2025, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has recruited and trained 226 driving examiners DEs who are now in post and delivering driving tests. The table below breaks down this figure by month, from July 2024 to July 2025. New DE's who have successfully completed training and moved into post.Jul-2410Aug-2412Sep-2419Oct-247Nov-2410Dec-246Jan-2516Feb-2536Mar-2523Apr-2517May-2514Jun-2530Jul-2526