Giles Watling, MP for Clacton, is campaigning to see the reopening of the Driving Test Centre in Clacton. Giles has written to the Driving Standards Agency to ascertain the cause of the delay in reopening the centre and has also written to the Chief Executive of Tendring District Council to see if an alternative location could be sourced if necessary.
The DSA responded to Giles and said that with the centre being closed for 15 weeks they need to ensure that the necessary health and safety, water and landlord checks have been completed prior to reopening. Giles replied and asked for reassurance that these checks would be carried out in a timely manner.
Giles said
“I fully appreciate that the Driving Test Centre needs to ensure it is compliant with all the necessary tests prior to reopening however I feel this should be done in a timely manner. Other centres up and down the country have reopened and I feel that the Clacton centre should be no different. If this site is no longer suitable for whatever reason, then I will look to source alternative premises. As such I have written to the Chief Executive of Tendring District Council to ascertain if there are suitable alternative premises should they be necessary. This is an issue for instructors, examiners and learners alike and my postbag is beginning to reflect people's frustrations. My preferred option is to utilise the existing site but should that not be possible then an alternative needs to located.”