The State of Our Roads

Ok, how does the main and most apparent issue caused by the lack of funding and what other excuses do various councils (local, regional, county and national), really show the truth of those promises?

Let's start with the most obvious example of that failing road system.

Or rather, the broken road system of the UK:

Everyone knows about the North-South divide and how the North struggles to receive the infrastructure work their people are promised. The recent scrapping of the HS2 North route from Birmingham to Manchester via Crewe and the HS2 East route to Leeds via the East Midlands Parkway because of eye-watering astronomical costs, leaving various industries such as engineering, business and farming to scramble around trying to keep their heads above water, and politicians promising that the money saved will be spent on the North. 

Would it be fair to assume - perhaps wrongly, that this recent betrayal was a contributing factor to the recent riots in various post-industrial cities because various councils can apparently find upwards of six million pounds a day to spend on hotel rooms for illegal asylum seekers, but along with the government, cannot seem to find the much-needed funding to spend on maintaining the existing infrastructure, and especially the road network, including it would seem any of the saved money from the scrapped extensions to HS2, from lines north of Birmingham!

Go anywhere else, and the roads are properly maintained, there's a distinct lack of roadworks, and traffic build-up, which sticks all our major towns and cities populations into a seemingly endless cycle of roadworks and air pollution, where councils insist on bringing in Congestion Charge schemes to try and reduce air pollution, but then allow roadworks to be undertaken simultaneously on multiple major roads, and often only then when the roads are so potholed that they are actually becoming dangerous to use, which increases said pollution. 

This leads us to talk about the West and East Midlands:

WM - West Midlands: The official region contains the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands Metropolitan and Worcestershire.

EM —East Midlands: It consists of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (except for North and Northeast Lincolnshire), Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, and Rutland.

While I can only discuss the state of the roads in Derbyshire and Staffordshire in detail, the two regions are suffering as a whole.

The large areas covering these counties are on the front line of this North-South divide, and so it becomes either a hit or miss target whether county or city council budgets include sufficient maintenance for the road system, which has to cope with a vast amount of vehicular traffic of different weights on any given day. 

As an example, the A50 running through both regions is half made of concrete and needs major replacement/resurfacing because of the sheer volume of traffic of all weights and sizes that use it to travel as an alternative major cross-country route to driving through Staffordshire & Derbyshire or using the motorways, which would invariably mean using that part of the M6, north from the Junction with the M1, up to the M60, which is just about the most heavily trafficked stretch of road in the UK!

So, where are the promised investments in various important infrastructure projects going? 

The new Labour Government (who have only been in power for a few months) have already shown how little they care about the Levelling Up policy started by the Boris Johnson administration era of the Conservative Party for the benefit of the people living in the Midlands and Northern cities, towns and villages and how little Labour cares, for anyone living outside of the Southeast and the affluent Metropolitan areas. The riots in August, fuelled by years of failure by successive governments to keep the promises made to the public during the political campaigns leading up to election and election, only to be informed by both central government and their local councils that they have 'zero money' to spend on the most vital of infrastructure, whilst those protesting on the streets are inevitably labelled as 'far-right thuggery', by politicians and the national media. This betrayal of the ordinary citizens of the UK shows a fundamental lack of care, understanding and empathy by the ruling class and much of the press. It contrasts with the image Kier Starmer is attempting to portray as to how the New Labour Party wishes to be perceived by the general populace - as a political party that cares and is responsible to all who live in Britain. which will bring a modern style of "a caring government for all," to the people of all parts of the UK, where wealth is to be shared equally.

We will now have to wait and see if any of these aspirational promises made whilst the Labour Party was in opposition ever make it into any government policy, let alone as actions. Or, will it be the case, as usually happens, that these high ideals just evaporate into the ether as with so many political promises made by past opposition parties?  Judging by how the Labour Government has started, the prospects for any meaningful actions over the coming months and years that would truly help deliver the infrastructural improvements needed by the Midlands and North to help kick-start their economic recovery don't look good!

From this time in September last year to March 2024, I continued with my Driving Instructor to learn and get a handle on motorways and fast roads. Within less than two months, we collectively agreed it was a waste of effort, money and time. While driving on single-lane National Speed Limit roads (60mph max) was helpful, motorway driving was a bust. The M6 Northbound was either at a standstill or going at less than 40mph due to roadwork, significant traffic congestion, or an accident. I never found out which, but past experience makes me lean towards roadwork. Stoke-on-Trent council allows for nothing above 30mph, which felt like we were actually getting somewhere.  

Since then, I have done some fast driving via dual- and single-lane A roads, and their respective speed limits are set, but only once on the motorway because the roads are in that much shambles.

The M6 has had roadworks for such a long time, and with no end date in sight, it might as well make them permanent, and this can be seen particularly at Junctions 8 (the M6-M5 convergence) and 15 (Stoke-on-Trent). 

Going Southbound towards Birmingham at Junction 15 is a nice and smooth stretch, whereas heading Northbound to Manchester is fraught with road breakages and potholes, has roadworks in abundance limiting space and speed, and isn't a very pleasant journey. That's obvious even by a single glance, checking to see if it's clear to cross over from the slip road onto the motorway. 

Junction 8 is where the M6 and M5 converge, and the roadworks on the M5 half don't appear to have an end date. These roadworks go on for miles and make motorist journeys a hellish chore rather than a pleasant trip and the beginning of a possible holiday in the southwest.  

Britain's motorways and A roads are struggling to cope, and Britain's inner city and town roads are near dirt tracks. Nothing gets done in a timely fashion because those in charge are too busy lining their pockets, leaving 'no money' aside to get these repairs and resurfacings completed for years, opening up various enquiries as to what the money is being spent on. 

Stoke-on-Trent's (Stoke) roads are riddled with potholes of various sizes and depths, and likening them to small sinkholes is more accurate because their council used the funding they received from residents and the Levelling Up policy on building a hotel and two multistorey carparks in what they consider to be the City Centre, the town of Hanley. Neither of the car parks is widely used, and the hotel was never built. The issue with this way of thinking is Stoke doesn't operate as a singular city like Manchester, where its suburbs and neighbourhoods operate inside the city creating a vibrant and diverse wider community, but as six individual towns (Burslem; Stoke itself which houses Staffordshire University, the Sixth Form College and Railway Station; Hanley [the supposed city centre]; Tunstall; Fenton & Longton) where residents do not leave their town or area of the city. 

Most tourists who do come close to the city believe the town of Trentham is within the city of Stoke when, in truth, it is considered part of the city borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stoke's neighbouring city to the west, whose residential streets are also riddled with potholes. Trentham has fewer potholes than Stoke, but as someone who has practised for their driving practical test in both cities and afterwards, I can say it isn't behind by a far margin. 

But the current state of the roads in Stoke and Newcastle do ask a fundamental question - if local councils can ill afford road maintenance, where does the money for the contracts to build various housing developments come from? Hollington Grange, just outside Baddeley Green, Stoke, and the Hamptons, just off the Keele Roundabout, Silverdale/Newcastle, are the only two I've seen personally, but are there more than these two? The latter estate is a little more prone to controversy, given its location close to the local landfill run by Walleys, which recently ceased all operations. * Where does the funding for the upkeep of the Art Gallery in Stoke's Cultural Quarter, the Octogan Retail Park and the funding for Royal Stoke come from? Why was the Levelling Up funding not used for the residents' benefit? 

* Note: This is where Stoke operating as six towns becomes their main advantage and will not lead to the current housing overexpansion the nearby town of Congleton to the northwest has been and remains still to be undertaking when it became the only option Cheshire East Council had for meeting their new housing quota after the residents of Sandbach, Alsager and Holmes Chapel refused to have new housing estates in their towns. See my previous blog post, Congleton's Housing Expansion, for a more in-depth scope of how the promise of new houses seems to take centre stage to the detriment of any other infrastructure priority. 

Other major A roads, like the A54 towards Holmes Chapel, are breaking apart, which has a knock-on effect on the motorists. Driving Motorists need to keep their eyes on the road, on fellow motorists and focus on the driving. What they can ill afford is to spend half the time searching out the various potholes in the road to avoid causing untold damage to their cars, vans or even motorbikes because some potholes can cause a motorcyclist to fly off their bike; they are so deep or wide. Lorries and small trucks have restrictions that prevent them from using various roads - usually small ones. 

So please, can those in some form of authority trusted to uphold their people's promises and demands explain why it takes so long for the workers qualified to maintain the roads to be allowed to do their jobs. By this time, the surrounding area of the road has collapsed? 

Wouldn't it be cheaper by this stage to resurface the entire road rather than fill in and refill the part of the road being argued over? By that time, new potholes (or, as I personally call them, small sinkholes) would have opened up adjacent to the existing hole and widened an inconvenience problem into a major danger hazard. 

It's an excellent job that the annoying flashy flash boxes—sorry, speed cameras—are tuned to speed restrictions because if they weren't, they would be going off at all hours of the day and night since dodging potholes can look similar to drunk driving.  

Paint and asphalt sealer cannot be that expensive for councils, indeed, especially if they are covered by road maintenance companies. 

New technologies in road asphalt cannot be that expensive. One example is the recycling of plastics and ground down to a compound for road maintenance companies instead of being chucked straight into landfills.

Suppose there are companies with the technologies to revolutionise road maintenance, and local councils have a set budget for road maintenance. Why are local councils not utilising or not bothering to utilise these technologies? 

Given the almost sudden increase in county councillors on the voting campaign promising to 'fix' and 'transform' the way current councils look at road maintenance and other major infrastructure sectors such as housing (a theme among politicians seems to be more houses bring lower prices, but because these houses are more likely bought on specifications its actually more houses at a high price), business & commerce, revitalising city/town centres, and other major infrastructure sectors.

Are various councils truly oblivious to the state of UK roads, or are they wilfully ignorant of motorists' complaints to their local councils and feel abandoned when these same councillors still opt to ignore the truth because these holes are not going anywhere and are actually there to stay until councils do something about it?

Is everyone's road like this, or is this just peculiar to the Northern part of the West Midlands?

Reality Beyond The Test.

* For more information about the issues and stress surrounding the Theory Test. While it is based upon my personal experience of both, this is more about the Practical Test.

It's late June, and I am nine months into my two-year driving probation after passing my driving test. 

It's late June, and I am no closer to wanting to get behind the wheel of a car and drive off somewhere than last year. 

Confidence doesn't work like that; it is hard-earned and painful, but you get there. You have to work at it. You have to not overcomplicate and overthink it. Make a plan and a route, stick to that route, and don't let anyone stop you.

Trust me, I get it, but most people are not me.

I am a CP (Cerebral Palsy) sufferer, specifically right-sided hemiplegia, and the way my brain works is not like anyone else. Despite the commonality of Cerebral Palsy (18 million people worldwide have a form of Cerebral Palsy, with 160 thousand [130,000 adults and 30,000 children] in the UK); not one person has the exact same level of affected mobility or everyday hardship. 

It took me 8, nearly 9 years to get here. I wanted to get to the stage where I could talk about my experience of getting my pink driver's (full) licence, to have a form of the independence I craved and dreamt of for years, and to get comfortable enough afterwards to share that experience without feeling like an utter failure for having taken so long. 

Even now its hard to not let those feelings get in the way because of the two year long wait for the probation period to finish. I'll feel tonnes better knowing that my chances of redoing the whole thing for the third time will not happen. 

It was a painful, bitter, and hard-won slog where my self-confidence was repeatedly sent to the ground level. My self-esteem was negatively affected, and my everyday challenge of gaining confidence in my driving took brutal beatings on top of hard beatings. 

I should start back in 2014 as the DVLA (Drivers and Vehicle Licencing Agency) issued my green (provisional) licence in November before my 18th birthday. By Spring 20 the struggles became an unrelenting battle. I am in my A-Level year, where my grades count towards a place at University, and I have been with a Specialist Driving Instructor for around a year. The year before, I spent primarily learning the basics. It took me a while because my CP, which comes with a splash of neurodivergence just for added kicks, meant I needed longer to understand and retain what my Instructor was trying to teach me. 

Even now, writing this post, said neurodivergence either drives me to distraction or hyperfocus so severely that I ignore everything, including my biological clock.

Yes, it did take that long, and even then, I had to take an assessment at the Mobility Centre in Derby to properly start learning how to drive. 

Anyone who has experienced this can understand and empathise with why I'm choosing to not focus much attention on it.

Anyway... Spring 2016.

Spring 2016 was manic, as I needed to pass the theory test. Between getting through my A-Levels, I had to experience the soul-crushing nature of fighting to pass what is, on paper, a simple and easy multiple-choice quiz and simulation.

It wasn't simple; it isn't easy.

To pass the multiple choice, you have to reach the bar set at 86%.

To pass the hazard perception, you must get 59%, which doesn't sound like a hardship. I'm sorry, guys. A twist and small print can and does confuse those taking the test.  

You can understand why and how so many kids/young adults feel like failures when a seemingly random computer test learns where so many go wrong and chucks in difficult to answer questions increasing in number with each test.  

Why do so many struggle to continuously take and retake the test that might as well be a college-level Applied Maths exam? It is because of how difficult and emotionally taxing the test is to those who take it. While I congratulate those who don't experience this particular hardship, give it a rest on the gloating because to the rest, to those of us who return time and time again to these test centres, it is something to dread, and that is mainly or partly due to the many times we repeat and experience the same confidence destroying routine. 

By March 2016, I was on Attempt 4 at the Cobridge Test Centre, beating myself up because of my previous test (Attempt 3). I don't know how, but I managed to pass my multiple choice but failed the hazard perception. Attempts 4 & 5 (March 2016 and April 2017) were a struggle. By Attempt 6 (June 2017), I had nearly given the whole idea of driving as a pipe dream, never to happen. What I didn't know was that pass rates varied by test centre across the country from 73.5% to 23.6% and you had to pick your test centre.

Fed up, dispirited, demotivated and reluctant to even make another attempt. Money spent on lessons to pass another test that I will never get to. 

Pieces of paper telling me which areas kids have failed on, and our instructors cannot help because neither kid nor instructor can remember the questions they got incorrect - ... i.e. the oh-so-helpful table below the word FAILED on the same bit of paper is so useless it begs the question of: why bother?

More and more kids leaving with the same result and going to their families with the same words: I can't do this anymore. Theory pass rates on average - only 47.1% to 49.3 over the time I took it.

Attempt 9 (September 2018), and I'm starting my Third Year at University. I'm trying to live my life while it's stuck on pause. 

The same routine, the same questions, the same computer-generated videos, the same feeling of failure that has become a familiar companion for three and a bit years. 

My chances of passing at Cobridge might as well be in a stormdrain. 

My instructor suggests trying a new centre because apparently, complaining to the company doing said tests is a brick wall since Pearsons have had complaints lodged against them for years, and no one with the authority wants to do anything about it?

Sounds like a plot twist in a novel, doesn't it?

A new centre - do I have a better chance?

Yes, as it turns out, because my next three retakes did not leave me wondering if the whole thing was worth the aftermath afterwards? 

After graduating from Uni, it took until early autumn 2019 (Attempt 12) to get a piece of paper reading: You have PASSED this theory test... my third time at the Stockport Centre.

It turns out that all everyone who struggles to gain a pass from the Cobridge Test Centre—the theory test centre base for the Cobridge and Newcastle Driving Centres, all located within the boroughs of Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme—has to do to pass their test is head or choose another test centre location. 

Ridiculous and honestly talking - the DVSA (Driving Standards Agency) should have investigated why and how so many young adults were failing at this one test centre and others with low pass rates.

Its bad enough the average for passing the theoretical portion of the Driving test is 9 Tests.

Yes, nine tests - that's £207 (£23 for one test) spent down the drain. I spent £276 to make that 86% pass bar over four years. Anyone and sundry can understand why kids may choose to spread out the costs over an extended period of time.

I'm now heading for the two Driving Centres to pass the assessed practical portion.

My first Practical test is in the following March, but what happens? Covid shuts down the country, and suddenly, there's a ticking clock somewhere for theory tests while the world is at a standstill. First lockdown goes over, and I went from 18 months with confidence to 14 months and no confidence, struggling to regain the lost confidence as driving instructors and pupils up and down the country scrambled to get themselves back to fighting fit after being told by those in authority that none were allowed to practice and - just for kicks there would be no extension on the life of the theory test. 

The smallest mistake, even something that before Covid would have made allowances for, means an instant fail and return to the centre, and the examiners/assessors could not and did not seem to care that they were the main reason and cause of kids suffering in silence because if anything went wrong, the assessor ensured something else happened hereby removing the kids chance to protest or complain about said examiner. 

Example 1: Travelling up a one way street and as I get to the junction and I'm on the left hand side, telling me to turn right and failing  me for being in the wrong lane.

Example 2 - Personal Experience: Instructing me to turn right on a staggered crossroads and when the car opposite decides to go at the same time just as the road clears enough for me to go, slamming the dual break on just as I react, and then later following this up by causing me to stress so much about a maneuvre I go and get it wrong. Getting the results back and seeing it in black and white: Examiner had to take physical and verbal action, when they didn't and don't need to. 

Leaving those like myself unable to do anything but accept... is a bitter pill to swallow.

Novembers lockdown made everything worse.

And the clock kept ticking. 

Why the theory tests only last two years is because - according to those down in London who decided to write the two years into legislation, (meaning getting it changed involves an Act of Parliament), the theory needs to remain fresh in the kid's minds while they take their practical. In that case, please explain why and how I could pass said theory test using a copy of the AA's Highway Code published in 2007 and why there was no thought by said authorities to prioritise those who passed their tests before the country came to a standstill, and who most likely felt discriminated against, abandoned and left behind by those they placed their trust in to represent them.

There's a waiting list. 

When I [finally] went from green to pink, the waiting time between theory and practical was 6 months; now, it is 4 to 5 months. This was due in part to the backlog caused by the first and second lockdowns, the panic and dread of having the theory test only last two years (which is not lengthy at all when you factor in the above waiting times), the backlash of so many kids/candidates having to retake and retake the test, and those like me whose tests expired and had to go through the entire process of retaking their theory tests just to give themselves a little more time to either get a more understanding assessor or find a different test centre altogether.  

Coupled with those who had passed and whose tests hadn't expired... you can understand why everyone, from the kids to their families to their instructors, got frustrated by the actions of the assessors and their new rules. 

If I didn't have CP - would it have been better? Possibly.

I wouldn’t have waited for my mobility assessment at Derby and wouldn’t have to wait to find a driving instructor with an adapted car. So I might have beaten covid to the test centre, when I realised you should change your test centre location. I might have taken something’s less literally and been more focussed and passed quicker.  But I do have CP. I was supposed to have driving examiners with disability awareness (few and far between and in the case of Stoke determined to put you in a situation to fail you). Plus, I take my 2 year probation seriously probably making me a better and possibly more law-abiding driver than other new drivers (and some older ones). 

I’ve done it but it shouldn’t be this hard, especially when many of the disabled community rely on cars for transport, and when apparently you can ignore a sight test and drive at 90yrs. 

Perhaps instead of just penalising us as newbie drivers, the government should finally look at all the older drivers breaking the law and make them carry out a small retest after a certain age as mandatory!  That would change the theory test pass mark from the 45.2% pass rate the governments statistics show currently for the UK 2023/2024 period.

* Note: When this is published, I will have celebrated a year of driving as a full licence holder.

Have You Done the Test Before?

Have you done the test before?

It’s an odd question and yet one that provisional driving licence holders will recognise. Does it sound familiar to all you parents of learner drivers? That's right, its what the examiners ask those taking their theory tests when they arrive at the centres. And it got me wondering....

Why ask that question? Of all the questions to ask, why that one? 

Everyone knows that Pearson's received the governmental contract to supply the driving theory tests. But are they as patriotic? Or are they making a money mountain out of the potential drivers out there? Last September, I was in Stockport at their driving centre. After a string of FAILs at the Cobridge centre in Stoke-on-Trent, I'd thought I'd give another centre a try – a recommendation by my Driving Instructor, apparently another of his students tried Sheffield and passed first time, to see if I could pass both parts of the driving car theory test. In doing so, I started noticing a pattern with the multiple-choice half. It was not obvious at Cobridge because I'd been going there so many times it was routine to hear the question. But what I did note was the following question:

"Have you done the test before?"

Stupidly, I answered yes but not at this centre and discovered something else - the multiple-choice test was a little easier than the string of tests I'd recently completed previously and repeatedly failed. No longer was it the sort of random testing I got when doing a bunch of practise tests before the actual test. Instead, there were questions that 1) I was unfamiliar with, 2) vague, and 3) were the sort of questions that hid the real topic they covered. As you can probably guess I failed that test, but it did leave me with some concerns.

Why is it if a learner driver answers yes to this specific question, the tests are that much harder? It can't be a fluke, right? Pearsons cannot be allowed to change the difficulty levels of the so-called 'random' test that is being completed. Which then leads onto my next question?

How are so many learners, potential drivers coming out of the centre with disheartened faces and defeat, having just found out they failed, if the tests are meant to be random?

"I can't do this anymore," is the phrase I have commonly heard after those completing the test have just looked at their results and discovered what it says. It is the phrase which encompasses everything wrong with this test - an overly stressful time, too difficult, disheartening, false hope and candidates on the verge of giving up trying to get a pass.

It's a pass score of 43 out of 50 with a Hazard Perception pass rate of 44 out of 70 alongside it. Some of the questions aren't even relevant. I remember getting one which asked: "what's the stopping distance of an 18-wheeler going at 70mph?" I don't know, its not in the Highway Code and in order to drive a HGV or even a Box Van it's a separate test altogether. Another one was "what colour is the light on top of a mobility scooter?" That got a reaction out of everyone, as all I heard was ‘What the fuck?’ It was quiet, but as half of us in the room had said it, including me, it was heard by everyone there. No idea, haven't got a clue, seeing as I didn't even know mobility scooters had lights on top. But it is those sorts of questions that catch people out, trip them up and leading to take the test again and again and again. A internet search of the pass statistics for the Theory Test back in 2016 suggested that the average candidate passes on their 8th Attempt, and more recent statistics from the Driving Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), show that the pass rate has dropped by ~10% in the last reported 5yr period, and is now below 50% for nearly all test centres. It takes eight times to get a PASS, on average. Are they serious? And then there are people who haven’t left the 1970s, 1980s and believe the young adults now are the same as the young adults then.  

Now, that I have indeed passed the theory test (it was my 12th attempt and my third at the Stockport centre), I can't seem to forget how soul destroying and disheartening the last four years have been. While its true I've had my A Levels and a University degree to mainly focus on in that time, not even the hardest exam for my A Levels and hardest assignment for my Degree were as stressful and seemingly difficult to pass than that theory driving test. That I can say with certainty as at no point did I consider jacking in either, whilst I had got to the point where if I had not passed last time I would have probably given up. As it was the only way I could keep facing failures was to put off re-sitting the test for at least a few months in between trying for it again.

When you do get that piece of paper and you see how many questions you've got incorrect, it doesn't actually tell you which questions you failed on, just the aspect of driving. Does anyone else have a problem with that, or is just me? I do know from discussing it with my own Driving Instructor that Driving Instructors around the UK have a problem getting useful feedback from Pearsons over what individual candidates fail on and so are unable to help their pupils pass the questions they find harder than others, but do any parents or fellow learners have a problem with this system? Where they receive the results and then struggle to remember the questions they didn't know the answers to, or even figure out why their Test results for the multiple choice questions are so below that which they were regularly getting on the Practice Tests.

Is it right? Is it OK for a difficult to pass test to become progressively worse? Or are we just going to have to 'grin and bear it'? Personally, I believe its going to have to change, and the whole system needs to be independently reviewed, then scrapping and restarting again.

If those who passed their test 30 or 40 years ago had to resit their driving theory today - they would also probably fail. But maybe that's what is needed in this instance. But is it possible? Is it possible nowadays to get the driving theory test standards changed? Possibly. Is it likely to? I can't tell you for certain.

When our parents were taking their Driving Tests, it was a 1 stage test where they only had to answer 6 Theory questions at the end of the Practical, and only had to get 5 correct to pass. We have to answer 50 and get 43 correct, Sit and Pass a Hazard Perception Test at the same time, and keep re-sitting as many times as necessary (which for a lot of candidates will be over 9 or 10 times), just to get to the position of being able to even attempt a Practical Test, which has to be passed within 2 years or you get sent back to start again! How stupid, unfair is that to learner drivers trying to get their licences?! Plus, current candidates now looking to take their practicals have the current lockdown and pandemic working against them. MOTs have a six month break and yet the clocks still ticking for the provisional licence holders. Again, how is that fair? Anyone else feel that way?

Which leads me to my last question - Why do modern learner drivers have so much difficulty passing the multiple-choice part of the Theory Test if the test is truly random. Based on my own experience of failing 10 times on the multiple choice part and only once on Hazzard Perception before I eventually passed - Are the computers at Pearson's Test Centres either learning what candidates have most trouble with, or are they set to select the harder 50 Test questions from the Pool of 200 for repeat FAIL candidates, so that in order to get a fair chance you are better off going to another test centre in a different city in order to get the PASS you want?

Comment below with your views and thoughts on the current Driving Theory Test Standards. 

Observations of a Uni Grad in the world wide lockdown.

The national lockdown has been in effect for a week (March 21) and whilst my younger brother (he's in Year 8) loves the idea of not going to school, for my parents and I, its going to be a stressful time. For those also feeling the pressure, whether it be university students hoping to graduate this year, this years GCSE and A-Level students or parents (trust me I've been there - I graduated from uni last summer, three years before I took my A-Levels in English and Psychology [I already had my ALevel in Hospitality with Catering] and three years before then I took my GCSEs. I know how much stress and pressure the schools can put on kids.) So, whilst I hope you read this post, I will understand why you choose not to.

Day 1: March 28, 2020.

Its a Saturday and normally my family and I would be planning on going out, whether it be to the nearest town or a shopping centre or somewhere outdoors. With the lockdown, that cannot happen so we're locked in the house - doing the most dreaded task of ... HOUSEWORK!

Day 2: March 29, 2020.

Clocks went forward and I had problems getting used to the difference. You'd think I'd be used to it by now! I don't know about everyone else but Sunday is usually a day spent in the garden or doing the weekly shop, kids getting everything ready for school and students around the nation gearing themselves up for exams. However, being a recent graduate looking for work, means that today was dreary and overcast and cold so I spent the hours colouring, whether it be on Pixel Tap or an actual colouring book or any other variation of, it doesn't matter. Lockdown is forcing everyone to change their routines and for some, like me, its not always a good thing.

Day 3: March 30, 2020.

Its Monday and the media are back at it - repeating the same news report over and over again like a dog on a feeding frenzy. In a 55 minute long news show, have a guess how much is set aside for the current global outbreak....

20 minutes?

30 minutes?

35 minutes?

No, 45 minutes!

45 minutes of the news is spent on the one report going over the same information with various BBC and Channel 4 News corresspondents speculating what is going to happen next. Its 80/85% of all the news reports being televised. If the local radio is also banging on about it, do feel free to comment in the sections below. Did they not learn anything from the three/four years of Brexit?

I don't know about everyone else but I'm sick of hearing the news go on and on about it.

Once again, everyone's getting stressed out, panic buying, and the media isn't helping one jot. We get it, you've been going on about it for two months. Give the public a break!

Day 4: March 31, 2020.

End of March and usually this would be a cause for celebration. Not because of anything going on in the world but because its finally warm enough to go outside for longer than 60 minutes and light long enough to enjoy being in the outdoors. My dad and I would go on a long walk, my brother would most likely go on a bike ride with his friends and my mum would get to spend extra in the garden. Like everyone else, I would be seeing about making plans to see friends and family, thinking about a holiday for the Easter break and so on. Unfortunately, for my family and everyone out there, with the lockdown in place - the earth is turning and life goes on, or does it? Is life in a limbo and sort of state of coasting? Are we surviving or living?

Day 5: April 1, 2020.

April Fools and no pranks! No kids outside and a stress-filled, panicky atmosphere. Its not something anyone can control, but being stuck indoors is not exactly living is it? For some, it's probably heaven, but for someone like me, who looks forward to the warm sunshine and fresh air after three/four months of being cooped up inside due to a lack of motivation, lack of energy and drop in mood, its hell? Are there any readers who feel like that? Who feel that the recent governmentally backed restrictions are making them feel the same way as they did before everything kicked off?

Day 6: April 2, 2020.

Its day six of this blog and I wanna climb the walls - get out of here, but I can't because its not safe. Days are beginning to blur into each other and the stress is getting to my family. The only outside world we have is via Skype or telephone calls and for someone with a large family, which while dysfunctional, does work, its jarring and difficult, chiefly if you're used to making plans and getting in the car to visit said family members. Is that just me or can that be applied to others? And yes, I know my attitude to all this is more of a blase devil may care stance, but its the only attitude I can use when faced with something like this. Does anyone else adopt a certain type of attitude to help them deal with the everyday impact of a global crisis like this? I mean we've had three years of going back and forth with Brexit, here in the UK, so if you do have recommendations, feel free to comment?

Day 7: April 3, 2020.

Day seven and I applied for a few jobs despite being shut inside the hose. Is anyone else, uni grads chiefly, making use of the time they have and applying? I also finished the manuscript for my first poetry collection today. So next week its all about finding a self publisher. Fingers crossed I can.

Day 8: April 4, 2020.

Jackdaw v Fryer Household. Whose going to win?!

It sounds crazy and out of left field I know but here we are lighting a fire in early April to persuade a friendly neighbourhood jackdaw to shove off. Its nest is located on the top of our chimney and its being stubborn as its not leaving. Its been here since Monday and still hasn't got the hint. So while the fire's burning Novembers supply of wood, its cleaning day - this weeks its the floors.

Its 7pm and the results are in!

There is a break from the contast repeating one news report and that is the Labour Leadership contest has finished with Sir Kier Starmer being the winner. So those who voted Conservative or Labour last December or those who are a member of the Labour party, may wish to breath a bit easier, now that the political uncertainty has ended.

Day 8: April 5, 2020. 

OK, so the housework was completed and we had a nice change of weather for once, here in the Staffordshire Moorlands. So my family got to spend some time outside in the garden of the four walls of the house. Where I live, I am fortunate to have a large garden for my mum to spend hours in, utilising what she likes to call 'the Dack Green Finger' - I'm hoping not to inherit it. I hate gardening. My Dad hates the garden or rather the huge amount of maintenance that goes into it, and I prefer enjoying rather than doing.

Day 9: April, 6, 2020.

Today was more of a repeat of yesterday, only no housework. We're still fighting the jackdaw, though I'm not sure a candle's going to do anything than a fire can't. Is anyone else dealing with a surprise resident this Spring? It can't just be me and my family, can it?

Days 10-12: April 7-9, 2020.

Ok, so I've been a bit remiss in keeping everyone up to date on the antics of my family during the last three days. Jackdaw it seems is to stay - he/she's not budging. Easter starts tomorrow so welcome the sugar high and sugar rush. Not! Some kids are adapting and some are struggling with what is called the 'new normal.' Tuesday was more of a lazy day filled with boardgames like Monopoly (Game of Thrones edition) and Cluedo. I lost Cluedo - my mum's the family whiz at it. Risk is more my Dad's forte and Monopoly is up my street. Wednesday was spent outside and was today but the wind made everything cold. Is everyone doing ok? If you're a uni grad, you're probably a little fed up with the job prospects shut off, I know I am. Anyone else finding it difficult? I won't hate if you aren't.

Days 13-23: April 10-20, 2020.

As you're no doubt aware, its been hectic at my house the last few weeks. Between the rush of Easter holidays with my brother, my mom's work as a key worker, finalising my first poetry collection and the job seeking, which is beginning to throw everything out of left field, its been busy. Good news though, we think we won the fight with the jackdaw. We haven't seen any broken pieces of plaster, twigs and leaves in the fireplace so we're hopeful its got the message and left. Again, I'm sorry guys, I'll try to keep to my first schedule instead of losing track of time and not finding the time. I'm a writer, I can and should be prioritising my time better than this, stupid me!

Days 24 and 25: April 21 and April 22, 2020.

Something I've noticed over the last two days is the sheer amount of repeated programmes that were popular when they were first aired, and still are just as loved by viewers around the world and here in the UK during the lockdown. Something to break up the monotomy of staying at home and working from home. Is there any particular programme that you enjoyed before the lockdown that you wish to watch again? Comment below.

Days 26-30: April 23-27, 2020.

Its been five days since I updated and to say each day has been as different as the last, is something I'm calling BS on.  It hasn't, though the weather has for a change been very nice warm sunshine, so I haven't been totally cut off from the outside world. As a Creative Writer, I usually thrive on spontaneouty but I found my muse has changed - I'm more inspired to write if I'm outdoors, enjoying the sunshine. What I have been doing though is catching up on all the movies I purchased but never found the time to watch. Is anyone else doing that? Finding their watchlist going down fast because you've now found yourselves with a lot of time on your hands and you don't know what to do with it? Again, I'll try and keep to the first schedule but as you're no doubt aware by now - it can be difficult.

Days 31-40: April 28-May 7, 2020.

OK, so trying to stick to the daily updates is non-existent so I apologise profusely. I know its not what people were hoping for. Its spring, late spring and there's a cold front with possible frost heading our way? What?! Yeah, that's how things are now going to be weather wise. Fun! Just what I asked for in early May. Was anyone else surprised?

Days 41-44: May 8-11, 2020.

VE day and bank holiday weekend - its been moved this year. Did anyone else find it strange. If it means that much to you, keep the existing bank holiday and add another one. I remember them doing so in the summer, breaking up the schools for the holidays a day early, to celebrate Prince Will and Kate marrying back in 2011. I was in high school then and not quite as jaded at the world. I found it strange then, I found it strange now with the bank holiday being moved to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day. Maybe its just me.

Days 45-48: May 12-15, 2020.

That was a strange week - I was getting days mixed up ie. everything was a blur. Get up, do stuff on the computer, go outside for a few hours and write, return inside and do more things on the computer, go to bed, repeat. Nothing changed and I was getting cabin fever. Or did it? Oh that's right - I finalised the edits for my first poetry collection and finished setting up the account. That makes me excited.

Days: 49-59: May 16-28, 2020.

Its up. After three months of edits and four months of drafting - before you all say procrastination, I was completing first drafts in a smallish notebook and going through the poems that were already written inside, deciding which to use, but Social Distancing finally published in kindle/ebook and paperback forms. Basically, I took our recent lockdown and used it against my stubborn muse, forcing it into submission and making it work. Hey, I'm a writer - got a degree and everything, I might as well try and take the circumstances we're all in and use it for good. 

Cleaning at End of Tenancy - £150 Thank you!

Yes, it's going to be one of those posts. You know, the one which sounds all grownup and mature and wise, but is actually a glorified rant. Or is it?

For the last four months, I've been in a digital argument with my former landlord, trying to recover my full deposit - all £516 of it. But when I did get it back, just over six weeks after leaving the property, there was a clear surprise waiting for me in my email inbox.

£150 reduction for "Cleaning at End of Lease," leaving me and my housemate with only just over two thirds of the deposit on offer and, when I asked for an explanation for the charge, I had no response.  

What cleaning? As far as I know, it was my Dad and I, as well as my housemates sister, that cleaned everything in the property we rented throughout the last academic year and our third year of university. We even had the evidence to prove it from both ends.

150 pounds for cleaning the property. It was crazy! The landlord hadn't done a thing for us all year and suddenly I was expected to just accept a 150 pound cleaning reduction fee. The only thing she had done was replace the fridge freezer unit because it was a health and safety hazard around last October and it took her six weeks, yes six weeks, numerous calls to the letting agent and the electric trip switch going twice, to do that. Even then, I got scolded like a child for stopping an electrical fire from occurring, by switching off the main power the night before. What are you meant to do, if suddenly all you can hear is electric loudly crackling and fizzling? When the landlord did [finally] replace the fridge-freezer unit, she had to put it at an angle, so of course this years renters and future tenants cannot easily get to the switch board if the electrics go.

Apparently, though this means that a £150 reduction fee for cleaning is acceptable?

Its not! If the property I was a renting tenant in was left in a tip, and it was about the fridge freezer needing to be replaced, I could somewhat understand it. But the property was cleaned out, and there was no mention of the replacement of items on the bill they sent me. The garden was cleared and the remaining waste taken to the domestic waste site by my Dad. So why a £150 cleaning reduction fee.

As it turns out, this reduction fee of 150 pounds for cleaning is pretty much a standard fee landlords bill their tenants for, and they do it with everyone. 

So do you accept it and move on? 

Or do you disagree with it and decide to fight your former landlord for fraud and theft? Because that is what it is.

Landlords believe they have a right to your money and an increase in funds. They don't! It's your money they're trying to keep. So what do you do? Fight them for it. Fight for the right to have your deposit returned. When I first started out the process of reclaiming my deposit, I had to go back to the basics. The Letting Agent I was using hadn't bothered to set up our Deposit Protection Scheme (DPS) Accounts and send us the details, so I had to sort that out over the phone, early in September, after the lease had fully expired. Once that was set up, I applied and then found out that I had one chance at claiming the deposit back. I had to claim it all or we lost the Deposit.

I was going to make a Statutory Declaration six weeks later, when the email I referred to at the beginning of this post turned up. Once that had been established - it was just a case of getting all the evidence corroborated and sent off. That's the main important aspect of this whole ordeal - when you move out at the end of your lease, or if you've already moved out like me, make doubly sure you have photographic evidence and evidence showing your 'conversations' with your Letting Agent as they could be the very thing you need to either receive or lose your money.

With that in mind, how do you feel about the standard £150 Cleaning at End of Lease Fee? This post may be about my own experience, but do you see the familiarity, the similarities in your experiences. Hopefully, this is one way of fighting back against landlords that targets the student renting market. What's your say on this? Read and Comment below.

Congleton's New Estates. What does it mean for the town?

Why does Congleton have so many new estates?

For the last couple of years, Congleton has undergone a significant transformation, and this includes the likes of new residential areas – Cranberry Gardens, Falcon Rise and Alderley Gate come to mind, as well as a new bypass, currently undergoing construction to the West of the town. Yes, a new bypass. It seems that with the new housing developments, Congleton's already existing bypass road, the Clayton Bypass which goes from Congleton Fire Station and up towards the A34 past the ambulance station, was all the town needed up until two years back. Until property developers, working on contracts with East Cheshire Council, decided to build new housing estates, transforming Congleton from a medium-sized commuter town into a large-scale commuting traffic jam.

But what about the train station?

A lot of people moved into Congleton or remain in the town for a few good reasons, with the main reason is being the education system. Its primary schools are consistently rated high on Ofsted reports and its two high schools, Congleton High and Eaton Bank always rate excellent with outstanding features. The community atmosphere is familiar, there are some unique shops (although increasingly fewer and fewer) and festivals are other reasons. But there is one other main reason – the train station. Congleton's train station allows the towns’ residents to travel and work in Manchester, Macclesfield, Stoke-on-Trent, Stafford and Birmingham (changing at Stoke-on-Trent station). Would more and more housing developments change that? With the train station located on the East of the town centre and all the new housing developments to the West, along with the new bypass, there is little expectation that commuting by train will increase. Instead, it's traffic will increase, and the inevitable jams that have already begun to plague certain roads.

Are the New Housing Estates needed?

Some people would say yes, and others would say no. Has anyone thought about whether they're needed or wanted by the people living and working in the town? Because it doesn’t look like it. Congleton has always been a commuter town for the A34, M6 and Manchester. It has always been the place everyone passes through if they want to get to Stoke-on-Trent/Newcastle (under Lyme), Manchester or even Sandbach. So why the new housing estates? Congleton already has the boroughs of Buglawton, West Heath, Daven, and others, which have empty houses going for sale in Butters John Bee and Reed Rains. Why do property developers feel it's so important to bring more housing developments to the outskirts of the town, and mainly why are they concentrated to the West of the town? Congleton's big enough as it is, with the heart of the city, shutting itself off due to the high rental values of the buildings. Why aren't the council focusing on the town itself move rather than how much money can is made out of the people who want a place to live in and will hardly use the town facilities?

Is Congleton going to lose everything it stands for because property developers want to squirrel every pound out of the town? Is that what the towns planners should be focusing their attention? Or should they focus on the town centre as well?

Having a place, you can call your own is essential, I know that as a recent graduate who lived away from home in student halls for two years and commuted from home for my third year. I'm not disputing that. What I am debating is the necessity of so many new estates. Moreover, how many affordable homes are included in these new schemes? Is that anywhere near the 30% target for Affordable Homes that councils are supposed to achieve?

I thought it was strange that at nearly every junction into the main town, there was a yellow sign with a small house symbol and a name written on it. But having been away for months and only really seeing the station, I only recently traversed around the West of the town and started noticing just how many yellow signs there were. Just on the way to Tesco's, I spotted eight new signs. Eight!

Isn’t that a bit much? Where did developers find space for eight new developments? I didn't think Congleton was that sparse. From the time I was nine-months-old, Congleton was where I went for my education. It was where I shopped; it was where I went on family day outs. But the sudden influx of new housing estates has changed the town I knew into one I don't recognise anymore.

Is it so hard to revitalise the town centre and bring in new people that way? Trying to bribe them with new houses, primarily as the estates concentrated along a bypass that when built, will virtually eliminate any need ever to come into the town centre at all.

The town centre is dying.

Capital Walk is shut down. The rents of each sector were so high, eventually either all businesses left or closed, not to be replaced. No-one could afford a living and the rents at the same time. The heart of the town centre, Congleton was built around a few streets, and half of the retail outlets are now gone. 

Hair and Beauty salons, Takeaways and Charity Shops are dominating the high street, and even they are closing down, including the charity shops. Yes, there are a few other shops and Pubs dotted around. I congratulate WH Smiths for hanging on there, seeing as it is one of the few shops I remember from my childhood and is now firmly a staple retailer of the town. But with so few other shops, more and more shoppers are going elsewhere.

Two more shops were forced to close recently. Do you want to know what they recently turned into – a Hair and Beauty salon and an E-Cig shop. The old Halifax building is Hair and Beauty. How many salons and Charity shops do we need in this one town?

Why is everything, businesses big and small being forced to close, only to be taken over by another salon or Charity Shop? And that’s before trying to add up all the takeaways. You might be wondering what any of that has to do with the housing estate crises Congleton has. 

Well, I'll tell you.

There are zero points in building any newer housing developments if there is no town to live in.

Schools are a high selling point. Congleton has a wide range of excellent primary and secondary schools and has excellent accessibility to great sixth-form colleges and further education colleges. Yet it still does not disregard that all Congleton has become known for is to be a commuter town for Manchester, Macclesfield, Sandbach, and Stoke/Newcastle.

And I'm sorry to say that as more and more housing estates are built, everyone who travels into the town will gridlock the roads and traffic jams will become the new norm. A 10-minute school run by a car turned into a 30/40-minute chore. The new bypass, limited as it is from the A534 Sandbach Road in the Southwest up to the Macclesfield Road and the A34 in the North will act as nothing more than a Commuter Link road around the town. The bypass almost prohibits anyone coming into the town centre itself from further afield from the Western edge of the area.

Even as a commuter link road, the bypass is lacking in that it does not also link up with the A34 Southbound route.

People are already angry with the congestion on the A34(S), A54 and A534 roundabout with the Tesco Express and its pedestrian controlled traffic lights. So how is it going to be a different story with the Macclesfield Road and A34 North out towards Marton and the three new developments in Black Firs and Somerford, when all these new housing estates are built and fully occupied?

As of Autumn, 2019, there are 15 new housing estates signposted in and around Congleton. These are:

1. Alderley Gate - A34 North, comprising 131 homes, of which 39 are affordable.
2. Astbury Place - Brook Street, comprising 66 homes, of which 14 are affordable.
3. Black First Park - Blackfirs Lane, comprising 84 homes, 14 shared equity and 2 are affordable.
4. Blossom Gate - Back Lane, comprising 83 homes, of which 18 are probably affordable.
5. Cranberry Gardens - Macclesfield Road, comprising 201 homes, of which 21 are affordable.
6. Daneside Park - Forge Lane, comprising 45 homes, of which 13 are affordable.
7. Falcon Rise - Canal Road, comprising 118 homes, of which 18 are affordable.
8. Loachbrook Meadow - Sandbach Road, comprising 186 homes, of which 48 are affordable.
9. Somerford Grove - Holmes Chapel Road, comprising 70 homes, of which 19 are affordable.
10. Somerford Reach - Chelford Road, comprising 117 homes, of which 45 are affordable.
11. Spen View - Padgbury Road, comprising 120 homes, of which 36 are affordable.
12. Sweet Briar Court - Campion Place, comprising 51 homes, of which 15 are affordable.
13. Sycamore Gardens - Biddulph Road, comprising 10 Executive homes only, zero are affordable.
14. West Field Court - Back Lane, comprising 20 homes, all shared equity and probably affordable.
15. Westlow Heath - A34 North, comprising 137 homes, of which 26 are affordable. 

Collectively, there have been approximately 1,439 new homes built around the town, with others planned and in the pipeline for other phases, including some of these estates. Of these, a maximum of 348 of these newly built homes are probably affordable, but actually only 262 are described as affordable. This equates to between 18 and 24%, which is below the Planning target of at least 30% for Affordable Homes. Although at prices up to £180,000 for a 2 Bed Semi-Detached House on some of these developments, it is debatable how many of these Homes can genuinely be classified as "Affordable." The remaining properties are mostly larger Executive homes of varying sizes up to 6 bedroom, built to entice the better-off commuter population to move into the area to take advantage of the existing and improved road-links to the North and West.

It can be estimated, therefore, that with all these new development, and with developments not covered by the yellow signs, that the population growth with be somewhere between 4,500 and 7,500, in a town, which at the last census had 26,500 people living there. This means that the town will grow between 17 and 28%, whilst the national population growth of the UK has only been 4.5% since 2011, and is estimated to grow by another 4.5% in the next few years. So why is Congleton supplying over two, possibly three, times the population growth for this part of East Cheshire?

Take a look around the town and take note of all the pesky yellow signs. Drive and look at how much the asking prices for the newly built houses are, including the majority of those classified as affordable homes. Take note of where these are concentrated concerning the Town Centre. What is more important - the town and its accessibility to get around, or to create much of the additional housing for East Cheshire and an overspill commuter belt for Manchester and beyond?