The PCS union has called off a strike at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency after “intensive talks” with the agency’s management, it has said.
DVSA staff had been set to walk out for four days starting tomorrow over what the union said were “reckless” plans to ramp up testing schedules to reduce the nationwide backlog.
The planned industrial action was in protest of DVSA's driver services recovery programme, which PCS said was "politically driven" and would pose “significant safety risks” for test candidates and examiners.
The recovery programme was intended to reduce waiting times for driving tests to a national average of seven weeks by the end of March, down from 18.8 weeks in October, and would have required test centres to deliver an extra 150,000 tests on top of their normal workloads.
Following negotiations, PCS and DVSA have reached an agreement that PCS said meets all eight demands its members were balloted on – including those addressing members' safety, terms and conditions and the standards of safety that driving tests require.
The union will now hold a further consultative ballot on the proposals.
“Our members believe in the quality of the public service that they provide, that helps keep those using our roads as safe as possible. It is important to us that the integrity of that driving test, the safety of that driving test and of the service that we provide to the public is maintained,” PCS said in a statement.
It added: “We want to once again thank all members for their show of strength demonstrated throughout the dispute to date. This has allowed us to make the progress we have made in negotiations.”
DVSA chief executive Loveday Ryder said: “DVSA colleagues do an outstanding job in helping to keep our roads safe and are working to bring waiting times down.
“We are pleased the talks with PCS union have been successful, and the planned industrial action on 8-11 February will not go ahead.
“I am grateful to the DVSA and PCS negotiating teams for the productive discussions and their commitment to resolving the issues.
“Driving test candidates with tests booked between 8-11 February should attend their test as planned”.