Bernard Allen
Question:28 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for the Environment if he proposes to extend an amnesty to the 57,000 persons awaiting driving tests at present, in view of the injustice suffered by these applicants.
Written Answers. - Driving Tests.
Under the terms of a 1980 EC Directive on Driver Licensing, I am precluded from dispensing with driving tests in the case of provisional licence holders. In any event, it would not be in the interests of road safety to do so.
I have made arrangements to increase the number of permanent driver testers from 44 to 63 to deal with current applicants. I am also considering further arrangements to increase the number of testers in order to clear the backlog as quickly as possible.