Every parliamentary written question tabled by Lewis Atkinson this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 1–4 of 4 · Department for Transport
What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the performance of Network Rail and Northern Trains in the refurbishment of Sunderland station.
Network Rail has apologised for the frustration and inconvenience caused to the people of Sunderland. It has conducted an investigation of the issues raised, and I am aware that Northern is working with the honourable member to improve various aspects of the station.
What the (a) average and (b) longest waiting time was for a driving test in each of the the test centres in the North East region in each of the last ten years.
To aid retention and to encourage existing driving examiners (DE) to stay in role, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is making an exceptional payment of £5,000 to DEs and eligible roles (divided into two payments) over the next 12 months. By keeping more experienced driving examiners and bringing in new ones, DVSA will lose less testing capacity from the system, making more tests available for learner drivers. Examiner capacity is rising, with 1,542 FTE examiners now in post (the highest since 2021) as of December 2025. DEs are civil servants and as such, their salary is determined by the Civil Service Pay Remit Guidance. The guidance sets out the financial parameters Civil Service departments can use to determine pay awards for their staff. DVSA cannot act independently from this guidance. DVSA continues to look at different financial incentives to recruit examiners and, indeed, to offer to existing employees conducting tests. The attached excel spreadsheet shows the (a) average and (b) highest waiting time for driving test centres (DTC) in the North East of England, from the financial year 2015/16 to the financial year-to-date (YTD). Please note, that DVSA does not hold data for Elswick and South Shields DTCs beyond 2022/23, due to these centres closing.
What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the (a) retention of DVSA employed driving test examiners and (b) pay of DVSA driving test examiners in comparison to the earnings of private sector driving instructors.
To aid retention and to encourage existing driving examiners (DE) to stay in role, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is making an exceptional payment of £5,000 to DEs and eligible roles (divided into two payments) over the next 12 months. By keeping more experienced driving examiners and bringing in new ones, DVSA will lose less testing capacity from the system, making more tests available for learner drivers. Examiner capacity is rising, with 1,542 FTE examiners now in post (the highest since 2021) as of December 2025. DEs are civil servants and as such, their salary is determined by the Civil Service Pay Remit Guidance. The guidance sets out the financial parameters Civil Service departments can use to determine pay awards for their staff. DVSA cannot act independently from this guidance. DVSA continues to look at different financial incentives to recruit examiners and, indeed, to offer to existing employees conducting tests. The attached excel spreadsheet shows the (a) average and (b) highest waiting time for driving test centres (DTC) in the North East of England, from the financial year 2015/16 to the financial year-to-date (YTD). Please note, that DVSA does not hold data for Elswick and South Shields DTCs beyond 2022/23, due to these centres closing.
What the average waiting time is for a driving test in (a) Sunderland and (b) neighbouring test centres; and how many additional driving examiners have been recruited to test centres in the North East since May 2025.
The table below shows the current average waiting time in weeks and the number of tests available at Sunderland, Gateshead, Gosforth and Durham driving test centres (DTC) as of 24 November 2025. Driving test centre (DTC) Average car practical driving test waiting time (Oct 2025) Booked tests (as of 24th Nov 2025)Tests available in 24 week booking window (as of 24th Nov 2025) Sunderland24 weeks479558Gateshead24 weeks3200121Gosforth24 weeks4003171Durham23 weeks3560168Great Britain (National) 21.9 weeks 635,93827,872 The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is continuing with recruitment campaigns across the country to provide as many tests as possible. A full-time driving examiner (DE) can be expected to add approximately 1,200 tests per year to the booking system.Since May 2025, DVSA has recruited two new entrant examiners for Sunderland, two new entrants for Gateshead, one new entrant for Gosforth, and one new entrant for Durham. There are also two new entrants undertaking training who are earmarked for Gosforth. From DVSA’s most recent recruitment campaign, DVSA advertised for further examiner positions for DTCs in the area and is starting to make employment offers, with the hope to have further new entrants in post early in 2026, after all pre-employment checks and training have been successfully completed. DVSA will also be advertising for further examiner positions in the next recruitment campaign, scheduled to launch next month.