Driving Test Centres’ Facing the Axe

Driving test centres could soon be a thing of a past with examiners based at a variety of locations including supermarkets.

Leaked documents suggest the Driving Standards Agency is looking at plans to close test centres and use private firms as “delegated examiners”.

The new plans could also see examiners based at supermarkets and community centres.

The Public and Commercial Services union says it has seen leaked documents showing that the DSA is looking at ways of reducing its costs.

It is also exploring whether driving tests could be conducted by other organisations inside or outside the public sector, said the PCS.

General secretary Mark Serwotka said: “These new documents shed more light on the plans being hatched behind closed doors by senior managers and ministers.

“Worryingly, it is the latest evidence of the creeping privatisation of the agency’s work, which puts ideology before road safety.”