To ask the Minister for Infrastructure whether practical driving tests will resume on 20 November.

Driving instructors are included in the Executive’s regulations on businesses that must close until 20 November to help stop the spread of Covid-19. Following this Executive decision, driving tests have also ceased over this period of increased restrictions based on public health and scientific advice. Driving tests will resume on 21 November. Motorcycle lessons and tests were not affected by these restrictions.

The DVA has identified that over 1,000 key workers and customers who had their driving test cancelled from late March to the end of June fall within the group of customers who had their tests cancelled due to the current restrictions. The DVA considers these customers as a priority group and has provided them with advance access to the booking system from 9 November to enable them to reschedule their appointments. The booking system will then open on 23 November to the remaining customers whose tests were cancelled.

To create additional capacity the DVA will open up the booking system for February for the customers impacted by the recent restrictions only. Over 2,000 additional booking slots have also been made available in November, December and January as the DVA increases capacity by recruiting additional examiners. These slots will initially only be available to these impacted customers. Once all customers who had their tests recently cancelled have had the opportunity to rebook their appointments, the DVA is planning to open up the booking service for all other customers in late November/ early December.

When testing resumes the DVA will continue 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.

To help further mitigate the impact on customers due to the cessation of practical driving as a result of the latest Covid restrictions, I will be bringing forward further legislation to extend the validity of theory test pass certificates. Theory test pass certificates which have already been extended by eight months and will expire from 1 November 2020 onwards, will have their validity period extended by a further four months. In addition, theory test pass certificates which expire between 1 November 2020 and 30 June 2021, and which have not already benefited from an extension, will have their validity period extended by eight months.

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.