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10.30 pm
Mr. Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield): The hon. Member for Colne Valley (Mr. Riddick) and I do not agree on much, but we certainly agree on this. He has outlined well the problem that we face in Huddersfield. Ours is an area of valleys, whose contours make travel extremely difficult. A civil servant in London looking at the map might not understand the difficulties of travelling up one valley and down another.
Many of my constituents find that a 20-minute test takes half a day out of their work; sometimes they lose a day's work. That is a considerable penalty to pay for taking a theory test.
The Minister will know of my great interest over the years in transport safety. I warmly supported the introduction of the theory test. When the former Minister of Transport, the hon. Member for Epping Forest (Mr. Norris), was in office, I pushed hard for a more sophisticated interactive test, which unfortunately did not come about, but perhaps it will one day.
The theory test is good for safety and it is good for most of the young people who must take it. It is good for all of us to undergo retesting, and to take the advanced drivers test, as I did recently.
The hon. Gentleman and I differ about Kirklees, which is a large metropolitan borough and an energetic one. It wins prizes for being one of the best local authorities in the country. It wins competitive bids from the Department of the Environment. It is an example that everyone except the hon. Gentleman seems to admire. It produces a great deal of wealth, income and investment into the town. One has only to think of the McAlpine stadium and our new theatre, the Lawrence Batley theatre, to understand that.
We should listen not just to those who have to take the test--they are a transient population, and after they get over their difficulties, they forget, but we get letters from their parents. We also have a well organised core of driving instructors. One of my constituents by the name of Jackson is active in leading an effective campaign. I can tell the Minister that neither he, the hon. Gentleman or I will go away until we get a test centre for Huddersfield. It is an important priority in the area, and I hope that the Minister will listen to what we say.
Finally, my very good friend Compo, otherwise known as Bill Owen, is a great supporter of the Labour party, although he sometimes feels that it is a little centrist for
him these days. He has a licence, but no longer deems it fit for him to drive on the congested roads of Britain today.
The Minister for Transport in London (Mr. John Bowis):
This seems to be the Compo debate--all I can say is that I bet Nora Batty votes Conservative. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Colne Valley (Mr. Riddick) on his consistent and persistent work on behalf of his constituents regarding the theory test centre, and on gaining all-party support in the form of the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Mr. Sheerman). I welcome this opportunity to reassure my hon. Friend about the arrangements in the Huddersfield area. Let me first give the background to the matter, which is the introduction of the new theory test--the biggest and most important change to the driving test since its introduction 60 years ago.
On 1 July last year, a new separate theory test was introduced that learner drivers must pass, in addition to the familiar on-road practical driving test, before they can obtain a full driving licence. The introduction of the new theory test has been widely welcomed by motoring and road safety organisations, and I believe that it will make a significant contribution to improving road safety and reducing the accident rate among newly qualified drivers--particularly among 17 to 21-year-olds who represent some 10 per cent. of licence holders, but who are involved in 20 per cent. of accidents and about a quarter of fatalities. I know that those figures were very much in the mind of my predecessor, my hon. Friend the Member for Epping Forest (Mr. Norris) when he introduced the test.
The current test is in a pencil-and-paper multiple choice format. A research project is currently being undertaken--using the latest IT-based technology--to develop ways of validly testing a learner driver's ability to recognise and deal appropriately with hazards. We intend to introduce a second generation IT-based theory test within the next few years.
We shall be monitoring the effect of the new test carefully during its first five years and evaluating it to make sure that it is achieving the desired effect of reducing accidents. The theory test lasts for about 40 minutes and, for cars and motor cycles, it consists of 35 questions. Motor cyclists have their own version of the test, with some questions specific to motor cycling. Separate theory tests for learner drivers of lorries, buses and coaches were introduced on 2 January this year.
The normal arrangement is that learner drivers must pass a theory test before they are able to book a practical test. However, during the first six months between 1 July and 31 December 1996, there was a special arrangement to allow test candidates to take the practical test first. To gain a full driving licence, test candidates then needed to take the theory test within the following six months. Those measures helped to avoid a bottleneck of candidates who could not book practical tests because they had not passed their theory tests. They also helped with the management of the surge in demand for theory
tests following their introduction. A similar transition period for lorry and bus theory tests operates for six months from 2 January to 30 June.
Whatever order they are taken in, learner drivers must pass both the theory and the practical tests before they can drive on the roads unaccompanied and before they can be issued with a full driving licence. The pass rate for the theory test for cars and motor cycles is currently about 61 per cent. I am pleased to be able to respond to one of the points that my hon. Friend raised by telling him that, as an additional service and in order to help candidates, from 1 March we will tell candidates the mark that they achieved in the test. Those who fail will be told the topic areas in which they gave incorrect answers, thus assisting them to prepare for their next attempt.
The specification for the establishment of theory test centres was based on responses to the Driving Standards Agency's customer surveys. Driving test candidates and their instructors said that they thought it was reasonable to travel up to 20 miles for a driving test. A national network of theory test centres was developed, which runs frequent test sessions to meet candidates' needs. The specification for theory test centre locations requires that a test centre should be available within a radius of 20 miles for most people, and in administrative districts--usually towns or cities--where the population density is higher, a test centre should be available within a radius of about five miles. In more sparsely populated areas with a low population density, a test centre should be available within a radius of 40 miles.
As my honourable Friend said, I have received his representations concerning the location of theory test centres. Following receipt of his inquiries, I looked into the matter and confirmed that the network of theory test centres did not include siting a theory test centre in Huddersfield.
Huddersfield is located in an administrative district, Kirklees, with a population density of 935 people per sq km, which requires there to be a theory test centre within 20 miles. Test centres at Leeds, Bradford and Oldham are within that radius and serve candidates in the Huddersfield area accordingly, although I take my hon. Friend's point about the geography of the last and the winter road problem across the Pennines. Adequate public transport is available between Huddersfield and other centres. By road, Huddersfield is about 12 miles from Bradford, 15 miles from Leeds and about 20 miles from
Oldham. Holmfirth, to which my hon. Friend also referred, is roughly 23 miles away by road from Leeds, about 19 miles from Bradford, 16 miles from Oldham and 23 miles from Sheffield.
The present plans reflect a realistic balance between costs, the travelling distances to centres for candidates and the frequency at which test sessions would be available. Most theory test centres currently operate at around only 25 per cent. to 30 per cent. of their total capacity. Leeds and Bradford are currently operating at a higher proportion.
Although I accept my hon. Friend's point about the inconvenience that can be caused to test candidates by delays due to road works, that would not constitute a strong case for siting an additional theory test centre in Huddersfield. Indeed, the same problems could arise at any time in any town. He also made quite a case for a theory test centre to be sited in Holmfirth, but I am not sure that Compo's needs quite swing it--with or without his ferrets. However, I recognise the strength of local concern that my hon. Friend expressed, and we have looked carefully at the information that he has given.
I have received similar representations from other parts of the country. In some instances, such as the Isle of Wight, where we had to avoid the need for candidates to make an expensive ferry journey, we have been able to make some concession.
I note my hon. Friend's statements regarding larger and smaller towns that have a theory test centre. However, it is important to re-emphasise that theory test centres were not sited based just on the populations of towns. To have done so would have risked poorer geographical coverage by the theory test centre network for people in more rural areas. I am, however, persuaded by his argument that Kirklees has a specific and special geography.
Among those districts with population densities that fell just below the threshold for a theory test centre to be located within five miles, Kirklees is the largest in terms of the area covered. A consequence is that, among such districts, Kirklees also has the largest population.
There are also the travelling difficulties to which my hon. Friend referred created by the district's situation on the Pennines. In the light of these factors, I have reviewed the provision of theory test centre facilities for the Kirklees district and have today instructed that an additional centre be established in Huddersfield.
Question put and agreed to.
Adjourned accordingly at nineteen minutes to Eleven o'clock.
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