Driving examiners given mental health support to cope with furious learners

Telegraph

5 days ago

Driving examiners are being offered mental health support to cope with angry learners forced to wait months for a test.
One hundred 'mental health first aiders' have been trained to help relieve the 'pressures' on staff grappling with the issues in Britain's driving test system, which has seen waiting times reach a record high.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) said the initiative was a 'particularly important' resource for staff during ' this challenging period '.
However, the revelations prompted backlash from campaigners, who said the taxpayer-funded agency should focus on lowering waiting times first.
The TaxPayers' Alliance called for the Government to abolish the quango and contract driving tests out to the private sector.
Loveday Ryder, the chief executive of the DVSA, praised the mental health project as an 'important' resource for staff under pressure.
In her introduction to the DVSA's annual report, she said: 'Our commitment to colleague wellbeing was reflected in the launch of our comprehensive mental health strategy, which included training over 100 mental health first aiders across the organisation.
'This initiative has been particularly important given the pressures our colleagues have faced while working to reduce waiting times and meet customer expectations.'
Nick Bitel, the DVSA's non-executive chairman, also hailed the agency's environmental achievements, pointing out that it reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent since 2017-18.
However, the report went on to confirm that the DVSA had missed its 'key target' to slash waiting times for practical tests, blaming a lack of examiners and rise in demand.
The average wait time stood at around 22 weeks in March, up from 16 the previous year.
The report said: 'We acknowledge, with regret, that these prolonged waiting times are negatively impacting our customers.
'This area of work is our number one priority.'
'The DVSA are a disgrace'
As of February, only 14 centres had waiting times at or below seven weeks, which is the DVSA's nationwide target for the end of the year.
Elliot Keck, the head of campaigns at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'The DVSA are a disgrace and bring shame to the whole of the public sector.
'They are completely unable to deliver their core objective, yet still have the gall to boast about their achievements on reducing emissions and improving staff access to mental health services.
'Labour needs to be radical with this failing quango and at minimum should be completely clearing out senior management. Ideally they would be abolishing the body entirely and instead contracting out driving tests to the private sector.'