Driving test bosses ‘bullying examiners to be lenient with learners to reduce COVID backlog’

Driving test managers are “bullying” examiners into being lenient with learners to reduce the COVID driving test backlog, Sky News has been told.

They have claimed bosses at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) are encouraging examiners to carry out driving tests in unroadworthy cars, sometimes without valid MOTs, owned by those taking tests, instead of the examiners’ cars.

Managers, they say, are also using a tool that charts different test routes to identify which routes have low test pass rates, with the aim of phasing those routes out in favour of high pass routes.

Some HGV examiners have reported being told to remove more difficult manoeuvres to increase their chance of passing, according to evidence given to parliament’s transport committee by the civil servants union, the Public and Commercial Services union (PSC).

The block booking of tests by unofficial websites is also a major issue, examiners said, as they are using people’s licence numbers without their knowledge to book tests and then charging people up to £600 – instead of the standard £62.

Driving tests were suspended during COVID, resulting in a backlog that has yet to be solved, meaning learner drivers are waiting up to five months to take a test.

Evidence from the PCS given to the transport committee said: “PCS has received a number of contacts from driving examiners who have felt pressured and bullied by managers to increase test pass rates.”

Morale is rock bottom

One driving examiner Sky News spoke to, on condition of anonymity, said: “Morale is rock bottom. There is major pressure to get as many tests out as possible and pressure to ensure as many test passes go out as possible.

“There’s a big push on looking at test routes, whether or not they need to be reconfigured.”

He added managers are looking at their assessment of the people they are taking out and suggesting they may be too harsh in their marking, pressuring them to pass people who they would not have done in the past.

Asked if staff believe they will be punished for not passing enough people because they are not good enough to be on the road, the examiner said: “Some of our staff believe that, yes.”

Examiners who are members of the PCS but have queried these practices have said there has been a “coordinated strategy” from senior management to “comply with the tactics to increase pass rates”.

The issue has been happening in test centres across the North over the past few months, according to the PCS, but examiners believe the practice will spread as the backlog is so severe.

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Unprecedented and of extreme concern

Lyndsey Marchant, the PCS’s industrial officer, told Sky News: “We’re hearing reports of a new focus on people who are deemed to have ‘too low pass rates’.

“Some are reporting to us they’ve been told they need to get their pass rate up or they’ll start coming down a disciplinary route.

“This is unprecedented and of extreme concern for us because the DVSA is the regulatory body, they regulate people passing tests who are of a fit level to drive.”

The PCS is calling for a separation in the DVSA of who assesses how well examiners are doing and who is trying to get the backlog down, as they are currently the same body, which the PCS says is a conflict of interest.

The union is also calling for the end to third-party providers being allowed to sell driving test slots as it says the backlog is being exacerbated by websites promising to get tests in a person’s area quickly by buying up blocks of slots and selling them at inflated prices.

After COVID, the government allowed one provisional driving licence to book 20 slots, which has now been reduced to five.

It is understood websites are using the licence numbers of previous users, without their knowledge, or buying the details to book the slots then transferring them when people select the tests.

A Department for Transport spokesman said: “We have zero tolerance for bullying and harassment, and we expect DVSA to properly investigate any allegations of misconduct.

“We are also working with the DVSA to bring forward measures to reduce driving test waiting times.

“In the last year alone, DVSA have provided almost two million tests in the past financial year alone and have deployed enhanced bot protection to clamp down on candidates being overcharged for tests.”

A DVSA spokesman said: “Road safety is our absolute priority. Our valued and committed examiners are professionals who maintain the highest standards. We have robust systems in place to ensure all tests are conducted fairly and safely, including automatic checks on vehicle roadworthiness.

“DVSA takes complaints seriously and investigates any allegations that standards are not being adhered to. We have a robust policy to protect whistleblowers and DVSA encourages those with any concerns to bring them to our attention.”