Extract from questions in the House of Commons to the
Transport Secretary
Practical Driving Tests
(Ealing, Southall) (Lab)
8. What recent estimate he has made of the number of people
waiting for a practical driving test. (902385)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport
( )
There are 95,000 available car test slots at the moment, an
increase of over 80,000 in the past six months thanks to the hard
work of the Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency and our
brilliant driving examiners.
Mr Sharma
I thank the Minister for his response. Data from the DVSA shows
that ethnic minorities are far less likely to pass their tests
than white candidates. What steps will his Department take to
ensure that discrimination has no place in driving test centres?
Mr Holden
Discrimination has absolutely no place in driving test centres. I
advise the hon. Gentleman to get in touch with me about any such
incidents and I will take them up directly with the DVSA.
20 mph Speed Limits
Sir
(Rochford and Southend East) (Con)
9. What assessment he has made of the implications for his
policies of the study in the Journal of Epidemiology and
Community Health, published in November 2022, on the impact of 20
mph speed limits on road traffic incidents. (902386)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport
( )
We are reading the report with interest and looking into the
details as we speak. Local authorities are best placed to decide
where 20 mph limits will be most effective on their local roads.
Sir
I thank the Minister for that answer, but local community
campaigner Nadia Fabri has organised opposition to an expensive
20 mph limit in Thorpe Bay in Southend. Will the Government
consider suspending funding to projects that are not wanted,
expensive and now proven to be ineffective?
Mr Holden
Decisions on setting local speed limits on roads are a matter for
local authorities and they are democratically accountable for
them. They also have the power to decide and implement
traffic-calming measures if they are more appropriate. Most
central Government funding for local government is not
ringfenced, so local authorities can make the best decisions
relating to local priorities. My Department is providing £170
million this financial year to local highways authorities in
England outside London and city region areas through the
integrated transport block for small-scale transport schemes, but
we will continue to look at all evidence provided to the
Department on all sorts of road safety and transport schemes.
