The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) was an executive agency of the UK Department for Transport (DfT). DSA promoted road safety in Great Britain by improving driving and motorcycling standards. It set standards for education and training, as well as carrying out theory and practical driving and riding tests. The responsibilities of DSA only covered Great Britain. In Northern Ireland the same role was carried out by the Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA). It was announced on 20 June 2013 that DSA would merge with the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency into a single agency in 2014. The name of the new agency was confirmed as the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) on 28 November 2013. The DSA was abolished on 31 March 2014, and the DVSA took over its responsibilities on 1 April 2014. Profile The DSA was a national organisation with headquarters in Nottingham, training and learning materials centre at Cardington in Bedfordshire and administrative centres in Cardiff and Newcastle. DSA employed around 2,400 staff around Great Britain and ran tests from around 400 practical driving test centres. Theory tests were carried out at around 150 theory test centres. DSA was a Trading Fund with a turnover of over £184 million in 2009-10 mainly funded through fees and revenue from other road safety initiatives. Aims and objectives The DSA's mission and primary aim was to continually promote road safety by influencing driver and rider behaviour, which it did through: setting the standards for pre-driver education and driver trainers registering and supervising quality assured Approved Driving Instructors carrying out theory and practical driving and riding tests quality assurance of all testing activity investigating cases of suspected theory test and practical test impersonations and identity fraud developing the future education and testing environment through its Learning to Drive programme Resources The DSA employed 1,789 practical driving examiners, and 728 administrative staff and managers. It planned to employ a total of 2,769 staff by March 2011, dependent on trading and the government freeze on recruitment. Board structure The chief executive was accountable to the Secretary of State for ensuring that the DSA met its obligations and delivered its targets and services. The chief executive had overall responsibility for the DSA's activities, ensuring it met its financial obligations, and providing assurance of a sound system of internal control. The Director General of Motoring and Freight Services was the additional accounting officer. The