2 Background

The Driving Standards Agency

The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) was created as an executive body in April 1990 and was established as a Trading Fund under the Government Trading Funds Act 1973 (as amended) on 1 April 1997. Its primary aim is to promote road safety in Great Britain by improving driving standards and in particular by testing drivers (including motorcycle riders) and driving instructors fairly and efficiently. It is responsible for three of the Secretary of State’s statutory functions:
• driving tests, including the theory test

• supervising car driving instructors

• the compulsory basic training (CBT) scheme for learner motorcyclists 

The DSA is also responsible for maintaining the Highway Code.

In pursuing its aims, the DSA is expected to meet the following objectives:

• Road safety. To provide a centre of excellence for driver training and driving standards, ensuring high and consistent standards in the assessment of drivers and driving intructors in Great Britain.

• Customer service. To provide high quality, modernised services based on an understanding of customer needs, working closely with other parts of Government, particularly the Driver Vehicle Operations (DVO) group, to deliver joined-up services.

• Staff development. To ensure that everyone in DSA is developed and trained with the skills they need to achieve the DSA’s objectives.

• Efficiency. To improve continually the efficiency and effectiveness of the DSA’s operations in accordance with Government policy and best business practice.

• Finances. To achieve the annual fee by full recovery of costs, and ROCE targets. 

The headquarters of the DSA is in Nottingham and it has a training establishment at Cardington, Bedfordshire. The Agency employs over 2,500 people, which includes about 2,000 examiners of which about 100 are in Wales.

The DSA conducts practical driving tests from a national network of 418 driving test centres. 191 of these are operational in the south. There are 28 operational in Wales. Nationally some handle motorcycle, lorry and bus tests. There are two Administrative offices; Newcastle and Cardiff who manage the workforce in the field and manage area resources. The Cardiff office serves Wales, part of the Midlands and the South of England. The Newcastle office serves part of the Midlands, and the North of England and Scotland. All postal applications are processed at Newcastle.

The Theory and Hazard Perception test delivery has been contracted out to a private company but the DSA retains the responsibility for the control of these test, and maintenance of the question bank in both Welsh and English. The private company is responsible for running the theory and hazard perception test operations, including making bookings, conducting the PC-based tests and issuing results. There are some 160 theory test centres across GB of which 9 are situated in Wales. The theory and hazard perception test is available on screen in both English and Welsh at all test centres in Wales and those in England whose catchment include areas of Wales.