Driving test backlogs only add to transport woes for the region

Regions are lumbered with a Victoria rail network. Bus services have suffered from cuts over many decades.

Fixing these issues was already a mountainous task but add to that the backlog of driving tests and it leaves places like Yorkshire in a state of paralysis.

Young people are the ones who are at the greatest disadvantage. And the Government missing its target to clear the record high backlog by up to eight months is not a good sign for them.

Public transport simply is not serving many communities, leaving many young people with no choice but to drive.

Young people need to be mobile in order to enable them to seek opportunities. Especially in areas with high levels of deprivation. Without mobility, there is no social mobility.

While the current Government is still in its grace period, with the Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander saying that it had “inherited an enormous backlog”, an increase in the backlog or failure to make progress in tackling it would leave it just as culpable.

The most effective way to tackle the driving test backlog would be to make it so that so many people didn’t need to drive by having a fully integrated public transport network that helps people get around without the need for a car.

The Government has talked about unlocking the economic potential of the North. Central to this is a well functioning public transport system.

People need only look across the continent to see that it can be achieved.

It doesn’t bode well that the Government had to change Transport Secretary so early on but Alexander needs to reassure the North that she understands the myriad issues the region faces.