To ask the Minister for Infrastructure what action her Department is taking to ensure that people that have had driving tests cancelled as a result of additional COVID-19 restrictions, will be prioritised for rebooking when possible.

The Driver & Vehicle Agency’s (DVA) booking system for driving tests reopened on 5 October and thousands of bookings have been made. At this time the DVA has not released any driving tests slots beyond January 2021.

Driving instructors have been included in the Executive’s regulations on businesses that must close until 13 November to help stop the spread of Covid-19. Following this Executive decision, driving tests will also cease over this period of increased restrictions based on public health and scientific advice. The booking service is now closed and the DVA will contact those who had their driving tests cancelled to advise them how they can reschedule their appointments.

To create additional capacity the DVA is planning to open up the booking system for February for these impacted customers only. Further appointments will also be made available in November, December and January as the DVA increases capacity by recruiting additional examiners. These slots, when they are released, will also only be available to these impacted customers.

When testing resumes the DVA also intends to offer driving tests on a Saturday and following consultation with key stakeholders is planning to offer driving tests for Heavy Goods Vehicles on Sundays, where it is suitable to do so without compromising the integrity of the test. The DVA will also use overtime to rota off-shift dual role driving examiners to provide additional capacity and to provide cover for scheduled driving tests, where due to a variety of unforeseen reasons such as sick absence or the requirement to self-isolate, driving examiners are unable to attend work.

The DVA acknowledges that learner drivers are keen to take their driving tests at the earliest opportunity and will continue to work hard to maximise the availability of test slots. However, all driving test services across these islands are experiencing high demand with longer than usual waiting times. Like all public facing services, the Covid-19 restrictions mean that the DVA has had to adapt its services to ensure that they can be provided safely and they would ask customers for their patience at this difficult time.

It is my priority to ensure that our staff and customers remain safe and the DVA will continue to be guided by the latest public health and scientific advice as we work as quickly as we can to serve all our customers.