‘Losing Paisley test centre will hit learner drivers in the pocket’
An instructor has called on the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) to commit to retaining a Paisley test centre.
Kenneth Menzies says learner drivers in Renfrewshire will be left out of pocket if no site is found following the closure of the St James Business Centre.
The DVSA driving test centre is one of the many casualties of the decision by the owners of the Linwood trading hub to end contracts with the occupants of the building. Sources in the area claim a new supermarket is being planned for the site.
Learner drivers who had tests booked after April when all businesses must leave the centre are being told they must now conduct a test from the DVSA test centre in Shieldhall, Glasgow, seven miles away.
“This means that drivers are going to have to fork out extra money on lessons to cover the time it takes to get to that area,” Kenneth told the Express.
The DVSA has said this measure is temporary – but Kenneth fears that a Paisley test centre will be lost for good.
And this will be bad news as well because the Shieldhall centre is allegedly already oversubscribed and the roads that incorporate the test routes could become clogged with learners, he claims.
“This will just make matters worse there,” said Kenneth. “And all the learners are going to be converging on the one area.
“It’s definitely going to increase the cost for locals because, to cover these areas, they won’t be able to cover them with a lot of instructors in a one-hour lesson, it will need to be a one-and-a-half or a twohour lesson.
“Driving lessons are already expensive enough but that’s going to raise the price for learners by pretty much 50 per cent.”
Kenneth is based in Paisley town centre and so will be less affected by the changes than other instructors and learners further afield in Renfrewshire.
“It’s not quite as bad for me as it is for some of the instructors that are in Houston or Johnstone etc because they’ve got even further to go and they’ll have to make their driving lessons a minimum of two hours,” he said, “which is doubling the price of a lesson.
“It’s just not realistic.”
The DVSA said the move to Shieldhall is an interim measure while it works to find a permanent solution.
The agency disputes the claim that Shieldhall is oversubscribed, claiming that on Friday, March 8, the waiting time for a test was 10 weeks against the national average of 15.3 weeks.
Examiners from Paisley will also be transferred to Shieldhall during the interim period.
A DVSA spokesperson said: “Due to DVSA being handed notice by the landlord, the driving test centre at the St James Business Centre in Paisley is expected to close in the next few months.
“While we are seeking an alternative location as quickly as possible, we do not expect the temporary relocation of local tests to Shieldhall to increase waiting times as we are putting extra tests in place.
“Candidates with a test booked at Paisley test centre should continue to attend as planned, unless they receive an email directly from DVSA.”
Driving lessons are expensive enough but that’s going to raise the price for learners by 50 per cent