Road Safety Bill [HL]

The noble Baroness, Lady Gardner of Parkes, has typically hit the nail right on the head. That is our exact objection to the proposal, rather than the intent behind it. We want to see an enhancement of driver skills in this country, so we are taking measures to improve the quality of driving instruction. We have said that those who give driving instruction should have enhanced standards, and be expected to meet higher requirements. There are areas of specialist driving where we would expect to raise standards through making additional demands. In the case of the ordinary person who wishes to become a driver, however, it is the test, not how they arrived at the result or what kind of instruction they had, that matters. I hear what the noble Earl, Lord Attlee, says: that if they have failed the test then they will have benefited from driving expertise. That may or may not be so—I think it probably is so. Nevertheless, we have a driving test to detect whether a person is safe to drive on British roads. It is the test which has to be passed, not a certificate obtained on how one arrived at the competence with regard to the test. I understand the motives behind the amendment: to raise standards in this country. We are at one with the noble Lord on that and will make progress in the ways that I have indicated, but in circumstances in which we are confident that this is one of the most rigorous driving tests in the world. As I have indicated, for ordinary drivers seeking to pass the test for the first time, it usually involves a number of hours of expert tuition. It may be that a small number can get by on the basis of help from unqualified drivers, but the vast majority of our fellow citizens get through this test through substantial expenditure on driving instructors, whose standards we want to raise. That is the basis on which this rigorous test currently makes its demands, and we should therefore not worry about how people have reached that level of competence. We should assure ourselves that that level of competence remains high. On that basis, I hope the noble Earl will accept that I am not in a position to accept his amendment, well intentioned though it is. I hope he is prepared to withdraw it.