Another ten days of strike action by Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) members – including driving examiners – have been announced.

Planned to begin from 6 March, the strikes will impact on services in England, Scotland and Wales.

The dates are:

6-7 March
London and south east

9-10 March
South west and Wales

20-21 March
East Midlands, West Midlands & Eastern

23-24 March
North west and Yorkshire & Humber

27-28 March
Northern and Scotland

The strike action is escalating because the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union – which represents some driving examiners – wants its members to have an over 10% pay rise, better pensions, more job security and no changes made to existing redundancy terms.

The first wave of strikes between December and January is believed to have reduced driving test revenue by £2.8 million.

“The government is in the position to stop these strikes by putting money on the table. Ministers must know we will not stop until our demands are met and our members receive the decent pay rise they need to get them through the cost-of-living crisis and beyond.”

• Mark Serwotka, General Secretary, PCS union

Impact on learners

As before, the strikes may have an impact on:

  • car driving tests
  • motorcycle tests
  • lorry, bus, coach and minibus driving tests
  • tractor or specialist vehicle driving tests
  • approved driving instructor (ADI) part 2/part 3 tests
  • ADI standards checks
  • moped and motorcycle compulsory basic training (CBT) checks – but not the training courses themselves.

If your test falls on one of the strike days, the DVSA will contact you and your instructor with updates about any potential disruption.

If your test is affected, your test will be rescheduled. In the meantime, theory tests remain unaffected.

Frustrating times

The strikes are especially frustrating for learners as the average waiting time for a test is currently 15 weeks.

The DVSA has also been working hard to clear the backlog caused by the pandemic and recently revealed to the National Associations Strategic Partnership that it has created 695,000 test slots by:

  • Recruiting new driving examiners (300,000 slots)
  • Conducting out of normal hours testing through overtime, including at weekends and on public holidays (190,000 slots)
  • Asking colleagues who are qualified to carry out driving tests, but normally do not do them as part of their normal duties (120,000 slots)
  • Converting any unsold motorcycle tests and vocational tests to car tests seven days before the test appointment (58,000 slots)
  • Buying back annual leave from driving examiners (20,000 slots)
  • Inviting recently retired driving examiners to return to work (7,000 slots).

Any further strike actions are bad news for these figures – and for leaners who are desperate to get their driving licence. Here’s hoping the situation can be resolved soon.

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Main photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash