You're right to highlight this is a problem. But what solutions are available? Surely any effective solution must increase the supply of tests available to meet the pent up demand. This could be done by reducing test time + quality to fit in more tests (bad), or by paying test assessors to work overtime, or recruiting many more temporary assessors to address the backlog (expensive). If you were the Minister responsible, what approach would you take? What does a practical solution look like? How much would it cost to solve?
Given that the agency has a policy of setting fees to cover the cost of tests, employ more temporary examiners and increase the fees to cover the costs. The fees currently are under £100, so hardly excessive. Ok, nobody wants higher fees, but it makes a lot more sense to have higher fees and reduced waiting times than see waiting times continue to increase.
Put a fraction of the tests up for auction, raise some money to pay for more examiners. Problem solved.
What is the data on the number of available tests and the number of people wanting to book tests over the same period?
You're right to highlight this is a problem. But what solutions are available? Surely any effective solution must increase the supply of tests available to meet the pent up demand. This could be done by reducing test time + quality to fit in more tests (bad), or by paying test assessors to work overtime, or recruiting many more temporary assessors to address the backlog (expensive). If you were the Minister responsible, what approach would you take? What does a practical solution look like? How much would it cost to solve?
Given that the agency has a policy of setting fees to cover the cost of tests, employ more temporary examiners and increase the fees to cover the costs. The fees currently are under £100, so hardly excessive. Ok, nobody wants higher fees, but it makes a lot more sense to have higher fees and reduced waiting times than see waiting times continue to increase.