Test Centre hopes dashed

9.09.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 18th Aug 2008

David Heath MP (LibDem) with protestors

Wessex Association of Driving Instructors been advised by the QC handling the case to try to prevent the closure of Trowbridge Test Centre that there is no point in pursuing further legal action against the Driving Standards Agency.

David Heath talks to 3TR FM

A judicial review of the decision to close the centre would have been based on the claim that the DSA failed to follow their own guidelines in closing it without consultation. However the legal advice is that, however unjust the rules may be, they have been followed.

The political battle is also lost, with the Secretary of State refusing to intervene or to take seriously attempts by local MPs to put the case for keeping the facility open.

The test centre will close on August 29th. Chippenham test centre is likely to close in a couple of years as part of the DSA's programme to close most of their test centres.

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As part of the nationwide campaign to stop the closure of most of Britain's driving test centres, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been invited to do another u-turn in the interests of learner drivers. Government policy is forcing drivers to waste petrol by travelling ever further to take a driving test.

Two MPs & one instructor being interviewed by various reporters

"I would like to respectfully ask that you help us in our fight to stop The Driving Standards Agency from closing test centres around the country; this decision is detrimental to the people of this country, instructors and candidates. The EU legislation that started the MPTC programme was to increase road safety for motorbike users and was never intended to effect car tests, but it is the car drivers who are footing the bill all over the country," said Warrington instructor Karen Farrimond in a letter to Mr B.

Out in Force - demonstrators pose for the cameras

She went on to explain that the Driving Standards Agency had been duplicitous in its consultation. "The DSA didn't disclose the truth of the full extent of the programme - now in the House of Commons we hear The DSA have plans to close more than 80% of all centres. This is a grave mistake - this decision is going to increase illegal driving; the candidates will be severely hit financially and people will opt out of professional tuition due to the huge financial burden.

Car drivers are now facing ever increasing test fees to subsidise the motorbike MPTC project, and many will never get the opportunity to drive in the area of their test; before the day."

A national protest against the closure of most of England's test centres will take place in Nottingham - home of the Driving Standards Agency - on August 29th, the last day of tests in Trowbridge.

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The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) want to close 250 local test centres around the country and replace them with 66 "Multi-Purpose Test Centres", mostly in larger conurbations such as Bristol and Swindon.

The DSA have admitted that the lease for the Chippenham Driving Test Centre (DTC) site on Bumpers Farm Industrial Estate contains a break option in September 2010. This would allow them to close Chippenham Driving Test Centre in the same way as Trowbridge, due to shut in August this year.

Chippenham MP James Gray said he feared Chippenham would be next, with everyone having to use a Multi Purpose Test Centre near Kingswood in Bristol.

The correspondence that Westbury MP Andrew Murrison has received from the DSA makes it clear to him that the closure of Trowbridge DTC is purely a cost-cutting measure and he stated that "It suggests to me that Chippenham may well be next".

Martin Ruddle, Chairman of the Chippenham Driving Instructors Association, said "Whilst the DSA are saying there are currently no plans to close Chippenham DTC this does not mean that they won't take advantage of the lease break in September 2010 to close our local test centre to reduce their costs. If both centres are closed people will be forced to take their tests in Bristol, Salisbury or Swindon. This will dramatically increase the time and cost for people to learn to drive. People in the area currently served by Chippenham DTC should unite to support the campaign to save Trowbridge Test Centre and show the DSA they cannot get away with picking off Test Centres one at a time."

The protest moves to Chippenham

The Wessex Association of Driving Instructors are campaigning against the closure of Trowbridge Test Centre and have received information from the Driving Standards Agency under the Freedom of Information Act which, in addition to revealing the September 2010 lease break for the Chippenham test centre site, demonstrates that the DSA are breaching their own rules about when Driving Test Centres can be closed without consultation.

Alan Dewfall of the Wessex Association said ""The DSA's own Code of Practice on consultations states that unless most driving test candidates travel no more than 20 miles to a test centre a full consultation must be undertaken. The information received from the DSA clearly shows that they are basing their decision not to undertake a consultation on more than 50% of its customers needing to be within a 20 mile radius of their nearest Driving Test Centre. Therefore the DSA are saying that Frome and Warminster will be within 20 miles of their nearest test centre following the closure of Trowbridge DTC despite the fact that we have demonstrated that they will be 25 and 22 miles travel distance respectively from Chippenham test centre. This is a blatant contravention by the DSA of their own Code of Conduct which clearly states that travel distance should be used. If the DSA are allowed to close Trowbridge Test Centre in September this year they will be able to apply the same methodology to close Chippenham Driving Test Centre in September 2010 since it is likely that more than 50% of their customers served by Chippenham Driving Test Centre will be within a 20 mile radius of their nearest test centre."

Members of the Wessex Association of Driving Instructors were in Chippenham on Friday (May 30th) to highlight the impact and implications of the proposed closure of Trowbridge Test Centre on people in the Chippenham area. Trowbridge Driving Instructor Roger Brunt said "As a result of the DSA closing Trowbridge DTC they will be doubling if not tripling the numbers of learner drivers on the already congested roads in Chippenham and will be increasing the carbon footprint as a result of these drivers having to travel up to 25 miles to prepare for and take their driving tests. Many of these learner drivers will be driving cars without dual controls and be accompanied by friends and family with a minimal knowledge of the town. Whilst it isn't necessary for our pupils to drive to Chippenham every lesson Rosemary Thew, DSA Chief Executive, has acknowledged that learner drivers need to familiarise themselves with the test area. It is also important to consider the impact of closing Trowbridge DTC on the number of unlicensed drivers as a direct result of the increase in cost to pass the driving test. If the DSA are allowed to close Trowbridge DTC, I'm convinced that Chippenham Driving Test Centre will be closed in 2010. People need to voice their opposition by writing to the Rt Hon Ruth Kelly MP, Secretary of State for Transport."

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Fight to save Trowbridge Test Centre moves to Parliament

David Heath, LibDem MP for Somerton and Frome, has forced a debate in the House of Commons about the closure of Trowbridge Driving Test Centre.

Mr Heath explained how the closure would result in a huge rise in costs and inconvenience for his constituents as well as for those of the West Wiltshire area.

However Junior Minister Tom Harris was dismissive of his concerns, saying that the £14,000 per year closing Trowbridge would save would contribute to the £71million cost of building new multi-purpose test centres in the big cities. Harris didn't consider the impact of the millions of extra road miles to be travelled by learner drivers to be a problem, nor the possibility that some people would react by driving illegally.

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After a successful demonstration in Trowbridge, West Wiltshire driving instructors held another protest meeting at Chippenham Test Centre on Friday May 9th. The purpose of the demo was to alert people to the fact that in the short term the affect of closing Trowbridge will be to increase congestion as more learner drivers descend on the town and more tests take place there. In the longer term, if the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) are successful in shutting down Trowbridge then they may decide to increase their profits yet further by also closing Chippenham and making learners go to Bristol or Swindon to take tests.

"It makes sense in so many ways to have a network of driving test centres around the area so nobody has to drive too far to get to a test centre, and no one town is deluged with learner drivers. At a time when the government is looking to improve road safety by making the driving test more complicated it makes no sense whatever to be closing local test centres," said Alan Dewfall of the Wessex Association of Driving Schools.

Wessex Association of Driving Instructors have written to Rosemary Thew (DSA Chief Executive) and Ruth Kelly (Secretary of State for Transport) to call on them to undertake a consultation exercise on the proposed closure of Trowbridge DTC, and provide assurances on the future of Chippenham DTC.

In response to a statement by DSA chief executive Rosemary Thew that learners should be able to cope with any type of driving conditions so they don't need to practice in the area where they intend to take the test, Wessex Association has invited Ms Thew and Transport Minister Ruth Kelly to demonstrate that they would be able to pass a driving test in a town of which they have no knowledge by taking a mock driving test in Chippenham. Unsurprisingly Rosemary Thew has declined the invitation, and no response was obtained from the Minister.

Trowbridge Driving Instructor Roger Brunt said, "If the DSA really believes that closing Trowbridge would not cause a problem for test candidates, then let it at least go through a formal consultation in line with its own guidelines. That would give both sides a chance to make their case."

West Wiltshire District Council, which owns the Trowbridge Test Centre, has confirmed that they would be happy for the lease to continue. Council leader Graham Payne stated in a letter to DSA chief executive Rosemary Thew, "As landlord, West Wiltshire District Council is quite happy to continue the lease for the driving centre premises after the break point in September and would welcome the opportunity to discuss this point with you. I would also like to ask if you have considered the carbon footprint that will be generated by vast numbers of learner drivers travelling extra mileage to Chippenham to prepare for and to actually take their driving test?"

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Local MPs David Heath and Andrew Murrison met with driving instructors on Friday April 25th at the test centre in Trowbridge that is due to be axed under new government plans.

The government's Driving Standards Agency (DSA) wants to close the Trowbridge test centre in Wiltshire Drive and force candidates from west Wiltshire and east Somerset to Chippenham to take their test.

The two MPs have tabled written parliamentary questions in the Commons asking about the consultation process and the number of test centre closures in England that have taken place and are projected.

Andrew said:

"People in the county town and from the wider area feel that all their services are being shut down - hospitals, post offices and now this latest - at a time of unprecedented residential growth.

"I am calling on the Transport Secretary to require the DSA to comply with its own Code of Practice on consultation."

Trowbridge area driving instructors are leading the protest against the closure.

The aim of Friday's demonstration was to make local people, especially young people and their parents, aware of the threat - the impact of the closure will inevitably be an increase in the cost and time involved in learning to drive.

Alan Dewfall of the Wessex Association of Driving Schools said, "The DSA have announced the closure without consultation and without a clear reason. No-one will benefit but the DSA itself. No consideration has been given to their customers - learner drivers in the area. It's yet more cost and inconvenience not just for young people now but for all those who'll be learning to drive in the future. The DSA should at least run a proper consultation so that local people and organisations can have their say."

On-line petitions have been set up on Facebook and Bebo for young people to register their support for the campaign.

Local driving instructor Roger Brunt said, "The DSA has stated that there are no plans to close Chippenham test centre, but the cavalier way they've dealt with Trowbridge shows that no test centre is safe, and we're concerned that future candidates may have to travel even further."