{"id":1503,"date":"2015-09-01T17:36:56","date_gmt":"2015-09-01T17:36:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.booktheorytesttoday.com\/?p=1503"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-09-01T17:36:56","slug":"blame-credit-crunch-for-lengthy-driving-test-waits-says-dvsa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/blame-credit-crunch-for-lengthy-driving-test-waits-says-dvsa\/","title":{"rendered":"Blame credit crunch for lengthy driving test waits says DVSA"},"content":{"rendered":"

We didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think it would be long until the DVSA would find something to blame for lengthy driving test waits. Why is it the fault of the credit crunch? Find out here\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Book Theory Test Today<\/strong><\/a> says: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It would appear that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an epidemic spreading across the UK as the Driver and Vehicles Standards Agency struggle to cope with the demand for driving tests, leading to lengthy driving test waits. Recently, we informed you of extensive waiting times in Cambridge and across Norfolk, but don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t worry the DVSA knows why.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s to blame for lengthy driving test waits?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Is it the DVSA\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s failure to recruit enough examiners? No. Is it down to their poor administration? No. In fact, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s down to those learner drivers looking to save money during the credit crunch.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, the DVSA says that some learner drivers face up to four months waiting for a test because there has been a surge in applicants who couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t afford to take driving lessons during the global recession.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the Automobile Association, the DVSA simply cannot cope with demand and is also suffering because of recent budget cuts, meaning less staff and fewer resources to deal with the ever increasing backlog, resulting in even more lengthy driving test waits.<\/span><\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the AA said: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re witnessing a lot of posts popping up on social media from agitated learner drivers who simply want to get on with their working lives and experience the independence that driving brings.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re being held back by the incompetence of the DVSA. The DVSA has obviously been caught by a surge in demand that everyone else could see coming.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

Lengthy driving test waits getting worse<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Book Theory Test Today says: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Since our posts on the problems in Norfolk<\/a><\/strong> and Cambridge<\/a><\/strong>, details of other test centres facing lengthy driving test waits have emerged. Milton Keynes, Aylesbury and Basingstoke are just some of the towns affected by a worsening backlog, with learner drivers in these locations facing waits of up to 18 weeks.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

Chairman of the Milton Keynes Approved Driving Instructors Association, Derek Wormald, said: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The lengthy driving test waits are unprecedented. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got pupils seeking to pass a test and they can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even get a date. When you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re looking at waiting times exceeding a quarter-of-a-year, the situation becomes ridiculous.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

Driving instructor in Basingstoke, Andy Maher, said: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A customer asked me to book a driving test<\/strong><\/a> on their behalf, but no dates were on offer. What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worse is that the test centre only had one examiner on duty for some days, rather than the four that the centre has the capacity for.<\/span><\/p>\n

The DVSA said there is an issue with lengthy driving test waits, but said this was a result of people now taking more driving lessons since the economy has recovered. In 2012, official statistics <\/span>show that those holding provisional driving licences stood at 813,092. By 2014, the number had reached close to one million [938,765].<\/span><\/p>\n

The DVSA also blamed lengthy driving test waits on a high volume of examiners retiring. Phil Lloyd, the DVSA\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s head of operations, said: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We are in the process of recruiting more examiners.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

Struggling to book your driving test? Contact us<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Book Theory Test Today offers an intermediary service assisting clients with booking a UK theory test, or practical test, at test centres<\/strong><\/a> across the nation. The service also supplies resources to help you prepare for your theory test \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Ready to take your theory test? Book your theory <\/span>test online today…<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think it would be long until the DVSA would find something to blame for lengthy driving test waits. Why is it the fault of the credit crunch? Find out here\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1504,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71,74],"tags":[412,111,158,117,174,360,188,102,116,425,426,405,86,126],"class_list":["post-1503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-practical-test","category-learning-to-drive","tag-book-a-driving-test","tag-book-theory-test-today-2","tag-book-your-theory-test","tag-book-your-theory-test-online","tag-book-your-theory-test-online-today","tag-cambridge","tag-driving-instructors","tag-driving-lessons","tag-dvsa","tag-lengthy-driving-test-waits","tag-milton-keynes","tag-norfolk","tag-theory-test","tag-uk-theory-test"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktheorytesttoday.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}