The DVSA update was issued in the Treasury Committee meeting this week, after the Labour Party government was pushed for guidance.
15:24, 15 Jan 2026
The DVSA's officials have spoken out over key changes to how drivers, motorists and road users are booking driving tests online. The DVSA update was issued in the Treasury Committee meeting this week, after the Labour Party government was pushed for guidance.
Emran Mian, permanent secretary of the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, said: "One of the challenges around the system for booking your driving test online has been some challenges with the fact that it's a legacy system.
"That is something that the Department for Transport is looking at as part of their investment plans, and their plans to improve that service." Mr Mian went on to say that "core Government departments" have challenges around the fact they operate legacy systems.
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He said: "Investment in updating these legacy systems is the thing that tends to get traded off when spend on data and digital is very, very tight.
"What departments will often then do is invest in the data and digital that deals with the service issue that is present there and then, rather than dealing with the legacy system."
The government's departments are investing in improving legacy systems as a result, with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, for instance, taking "a much closer approach".
The Committee meetin came after the Labour Party Government lost an estimated £55bn-£81bn to fraud and error in 2023-24. The National Audit Office (NAO) has found that the use of data analytics to tackle this issue have produced only modest savings compared to the amount which they could potentially achieve.
The Committee explored "the progress that the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA) and the GDS have made in promoting analytics’ use for this purpose, and whether their plans to do so are robust enough", it said.
It also touched on the government’s use of artificial intelligence (AI), abd how the public can be assured that data analytics are being used appropriately.
It also explored the adequacy of central oversight and control of digital functions, and why centrally available tools which could help departments bear down further on fraud are not mandatory.