Calls to reopen driving test centre amid backlog

The former South Shields Driving Test Centre has remained boarded up since its closure

A campaign to reopen a driving test centre where learners are said to be facing a six-month wait has been backed by councillors.

South Shields Driving Test Centre was closed in 2022 and merged with a centre in Sunderland.

Labour-led South Tyneside Council supported a motion to write to key figures calling for the site, on Bede Industrial Estate in Jarrow, to be reopened, as the test backlog was at an "unprecedented high".

The DVSA said there had been no change to the number of local tests offered as a result of the move and it was taking "decisive action" nationally to reduce waiting times by making more tests available.

The issue was raised at a full council meeting last week, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Labour's Stephen Dean, launching the motion, said the need to reopen the centre was "imperative", as the "current test backlog and waiting time is at an unprecedented high".

"The DVSA are recruiting more driving examiners to tackle this current crisis and the reopening of South Shields would allow DVSA to increase this even further," Dean said.

'No plans to reopen'

Independent David Kennedy, leader of the South Tyneside Alliance Group, expressed support citing environmental concerns, with learner drivers from the borough travelling six miles (10km) to Sunderland to practice or take their tests.

"Everything about this is wrong when we have a perfectly good training centre on our doorstep that's falling into disrepair," Kennedy said.

Independent Robin Coombes added that a driving instructor in his constituency said test waiting times were "in excess of six months".

Sue Stonehouse, of the Green Party, said some would choose the "ideal option" to use public transport and to "save emissions" but noted "there are times when this option is not in our control".

"Some employers don't invest in their staff, they save money and time by requesting that their employees applying for jobs have driving licences," she said.

Stonehouse said students had raised issues around the cost of tests, the lengthy waiting list for a date and the cost of lessons.

Labour's Ernest Gibson, cabinet member for neighbourhoods and climate change, said the waiting list was impacting employment, along with the environmental cost of people going "out of the borough".

The DVSA said it continually reviewed its estate to ensure best value for money and that it had "no plans for any additional driving test centres in South Shields".

A spokesperson said it was "steadfastly committed" to helping learner drivers.

"We carried out just over 20,000 more tests last month, compared to September 2024," the DVSA said.