Driving Quango chiefs are out of touch on test centre closure

17/01/2010 by Steve Barclay.

It is deeply frustrating to hear the news from the Driving Standards Agency that they want to close the Wisbech Driving Centre in March this year.  In response to a parliamentary question last April, they admitted the Wisbech test centre only costs £11K a year to run.  For such a modest saving, they intend that Fenland residents should have to travel to King’s Lynn.  That means paying for two hour lessons instead of one hour in order to practice on the roads where their test will be held.

Wisbech Town Councillor Sam Hoy has been in touch to let me know her constituents, including a local driving instructor, are far from happy about the closure.   Wisbech Town Council will discuss the closure at their forcoming meeting and I hope they, and residents in Fenland, will make their views heard on this issue.

Rural communities face more and more services being taken away from them.  The driving centre is just the latest, nor will it be the last under a Labour government which is based towards big cities.  Given the modest saving, I am sure the Driving Standards Agency could find £11K elsewhere in their budget. Malcolm Moss MP agrees that the DSA have got this badly wrong, and has written to both the Government and Shadow Ministers responsbile calling for a review.  He has tabled a number of parliamentary questions to the DSA to see if their £11K could be found elsewhere.  These are set out below.  Should I become MP I will be taking a very close interest in all aspects of the Driving Standards Agency’s performance.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport…

1. …what the anticipated annual savings will be in 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12 following the decision to relocate the Wisbech Driving Test Centre to Kings Lynn MPTC.
2. …what additional costs have been identified for driving instructors in 2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12 as a result of the decision to relocate the Wisbech Driving Test Centre to Kings Lynn MPTC.
3. …how many Driving Test Centres have closed, by location, in each of the last three years.
4. …which Driving Test Centres are due to be relocated in the next three years.
5. …what the anticipated additional travel costs for DSA examiners will be as a result of the relocation of the Wisbech Driving Test Centre to Kings Lynn MPTC.
6. …how many full-time equivalent employees of the Driving Standards Agency are in the following salary bands: a) £150,000 and above; b) £100,000-£149,999; c) £80,000-£99,999; d) £60,000-£79,999; e) £40,000-£59,999; f) £25,000-£39,999; and g) £24,999 and under.
7. …what the total amount claimed in expenses by each member of the management of the Driving Standards Agency was in each of the last three years.
8. …what the total salary expenditure on press officers employed by the Driving Standards Agency was in each of the last three years.
9. …how much the Driving Standards Agency has spent on online communications systems including Twitter in each of the last three years.

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