following publication today of my letter in RouteOne trade magazine, I had a call from someone in Mansfield who clarified the situation regarding Community Tranport Drivers licence requirements. There's been a recent meeting with the CPT, Lord Lester, the EU commissioner and other interested parties.

A full announcement will be made within the next couple of weeks, but the gist of the matter is that from 10th September 2013 ALL drivers of vehicles with more than 8 passenger seats used for hire and reward, and the term "hire and reward" is now including "Community Transport" and "not for profit" organisations are deemed as running "for hire and reward".

As a result those drivers, whether paid or not, will require D1 (psv) licences and need a driver CPC card to carry on driving. From the same date, bus mechanics and others involved in the transfer of buses will need the same!

As a separate but related matter, there is to be a fianl decision on the staus of CT organisations and the amount of government subsidy given to those organisations. Look at Hackney CT, now with a turnover of £50m a year! It is likely that the decision will result in such sunsidies being made illegal; it is suggested that any subsidies will have to be repaid!

It is also likely that volunteer car drivers (such as "free" hospital transport) will need to be licenced as "private hire" or "taxi" drivers to continue their operations as their activities are deemed to be "for hire and reward", even if there is no profit involved.

Hopefully this will see the end of the section 19 and section 22 minibus fiasco that has seen over 100,000 new s19 permits being issued last year alone! compared with the total of about 90,000 psv O licences issued, this shows the size of the CT problem.

Here at Southern Vectis we supply the buses for the Community Bus network. The routes are regsitered by us and the volunteer drivers are all trained & tested to full D1 standard by us. The drivers CPC is now part of the test, (module 4), and any drivers joining us with an existing licence but no CPC are sent to our training centre for five days to gain the qualification.

My bus number (if any): RM 912

I'm glad to see SOMEONE doing it properly, but then I wouldn't expect any less from a Go-Ahead Group company! I presume the community buses are SVOC stock and properly licenced as PSVs.

There's also likely to be a ruling on the "government subsidy" side of CT later in May which is likely to have far-reaching repurcussions.

As a bit of an aside, I was working at deZigeuner in Belgium last week repairing their RM428 and spoke with Rik, their MD about the Driver CPC card. It transpires that this won't be a legal requirement in Belgium until 2015!!

He too agrees it's a complete waste of time and money.

So it seems the government UK is being picky and choosy as to what sections of EU law to enforce.

BTW deZigeuner has a fleet of over 100 vehicles, including some very nice Bedford OBs, SBs, a Swiss post bus and modern coaches.

Here's the latest update on the community transport bus drivers issue:

Hi All,

Just to inform you all that we had our second telephone conference on Friday the 19th of July with the EU, they have informed us they will be writing to the UK government setting out our priority for the investigation by the EU, they informed us on Friday that the state aid investigation will take place,( this is fantastic news) also at our last conference we was informed that the state aid department and DG Competition for transport department as said there is a clear infringement of EU law regarding the 2 tier licence system i.e. section 19/22 and 10B in Northern Ireland this is still in the hands of the DG Transport department and the main EU transport department, so all looks very good at the moment, they also confirmed that any company offering goods and services on a given market is a commercial undertaking no matter what its legal status is, so they will have to comply to the access to the profession and the drivers CPC, the EU are also aware that the DFT are protecting them, the next meeting is planned for the end of September, there is a lot happening at the moment but can't say too much in email.



I would like to give a big thanks to you all for your help and the moneys you have donated to the fund.





Kind regards,


Martin Allen

Where i work all our shunters and Engineers are all CPC trained and beware
in September all Vosa Officers have there leave cancelled if you get caught with no cpc you will be Fined £1,0000
We have 200 drivers in our garage and they will all be done by next week
graham Lunn

They are threatening to do the same to non-UK drivers. The problem is that Belgian drivers don't need the DCPC until 2015. It'll make for some interesting conversations at Dover!!

this latest press release from HM Government:

Press release

Driver training exemption set to cut costs and bureaucracy




Organisations:
Department for Transport+ 1 other
Page history:Published 8 August 2013 Policy:Providing effective regulation of freight transportMinister:Stephen Hammond MP ...



Short distance repair and testing drivers to be made exempt from additional professional driving tests and training.



Freight





A rule forcing mechanics to pay for professional driver training is to be abolished saving UK businesses £29 million, Roads Minister Stephen Hammond has announced.

Under current European rules, anyone who drives heavy goods vehicles or buses must complete a Certificate of Professional Competence but around 76,000 who drive them for short distances, for the purposes of delivering or repairing them, will soon be exempt.

Stephen Hammond said:

“
Driver training is essential to ensure that lorry and bus drivers keep their skills up to scratch and keep our roads safe.
“
But making the training compulsory for those who only drive HGVs over short distances – because they are delivering them for repair or testing – is costly and time-consuming. That is why we are making these exemptions which will reduce costs and administration for businesses.”

Two exemptions, made following a consultation, will be implemented this Autumn.

The first exemption benefits both mechanics and valets delivering vehicles. It applies as long as no goods or passengers are being carried, the vehicle is not being used for hire or reward, driving heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) or public service vehicles (PSVs) is not the driver’s main job and the vehicle remains within 50 kilometres of the driver’s base.

The second exemption benefits mechanics – it applies as long as the vehicle is being driven to an official test at a VOSA or authorised testing facility.

The government intends to look again at whether the scope of exemptions from Driver CPC can be extended in respect of farmers.

Notes to editors

The exemptions will result in around 76,000 individuals, whose main job is not driving, being exempt from the requirement to have an additional driving test and additional training every year. This is expected to generate savings to the industry of £29 million in the first year alone.

The changes being implemented form part of the government’s Red Tape Challenge commitment to reduce unnecessary regulations. Drivers will still be required to hold the appropriate entitlement on their driving licence.

The government will also be re-issuing guidance shortly to clarify the situation for drivers with grandfather rights minibus entitlements, to enable them to progress straight to the periodic training element of Driver CPC. This will considerably cut burdens on this small group. So where driving requires CPC, D1 (NFHR) and D (NFHR) licence entitlement holders will now be able to progress straight to the CPC periodic training requirement of 35 hours training per 5 years, rather than needing to take the initial licence acquisition and CPC test as well.

Driver CPC has been transposed into UK regulations from Directive 2003/59/EC, which is about the initial qualification and periodic training of drivers of certain road vehicles for the carriage of goods or passengers. The directive introduced a Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (DCPC) across the European Union.

The UK legislation is the Vehicle Drivers (Certificates of Professional Competence) Regulations 2007. Like the directive, these regulations require that all drivers of large goods vehicles (LGVs) and passenger carrying vehicles (PCVs) must hold a DCPC unless one of the exemptions applies to them.

The requirements for DCPC applied from 10 September 2008 in respect of PCVs and from 10 September 2009 in respect of LGVs. Since those dates, new PCV and LGV drivers have obtained their DCPC by passing the initial DCPC test.

Drivers who held a full UK licence to drive a PCV or LGV before 10 September 2008 (for PCVs) or 10 September 2009 (for LGVs) have acquired rights that last until 10 September 2013 (for PCVs) or 10 September 2014 (for (LGVs) and therefore did not have to obtain an initial DCPC. This is also the case for drivers who held – before 10 September 2008 (for PCVs) or 10 September 2009 (for LGVs) – a licence to drive a PCV or LGV that was issued by another member state, or a licence that is recognised as equivalent to a full UK licence or to another member state’s licence.

The consultation and consultation response document is available on GOV.UK.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/driver-training-exemption-set-to-cut-costs-and-bureaucracy

Here's a copy of an email from one of my correspondents regarding the requirement for CT drivers (and all drivers) to get a DCPC:

our ref: 1304/00990
24 April 2013
Dear Mr XXX

Thank you for your emails of 18 and 23 April about exemptions from the Driver Certificate of
Professional Competence (CPC).
You can see the text of EU Directive 2003159 here. We transposed the Directive into The Vehicle
Drivers (Certificates of Professional Competence) Regulations 2007 [S12007 No 605J (as amended).
Where there was flexibility in how the Directive could be implemented, we worked with stakeholders
from the relevant sectors to agree a policy or approach and this was subject to public consultation. In
terms of exemptions, if you compare Article 2 of the Directive with Regulation 3 of the above
legislation, you will note that the exemptions have been transposed virtually unchanged.
Since its implementation, we have repeatedly engaged with the EU Commission in order to clarify the
scope of the Directive and the interpretation of the exemptions containec in Article 2. In those
discussions, the Commission ind-icated that the exemptions cannot be applied as 'class exemptions' -
whether or not somebody is exempt from DriverCf-C depends on their individual circumstances. I
can only suggest that the default position for the Community Transport Association, and bus, coach
and lorry drivers in general, should be that they need to hold Driver CPC, unless they can
demonstrate one of the exemptions applies to them. I would strongly recommend that a driver or
employer who feels that an exemption applies seeks independent legal advice.
With regard the scenario you described in your email of 23 April, I would suggest that if the drivers
are being paid to drive the minibuses, they need to hold Driver CPC. However, I must stress that this
view is based on our interpretation of the Directive; it is, as I have said, for the courts to provide
definitive legal interpretation.
Yours sincerely
1
2
Rosemary Thew
Chief Executive
Chief Executive's Office
rosemary. thew@dsa.gsi.gov.u

My bus number (if any): RML2532

The latest news on the Community Bus Drivers is from Martin Allen of the Bus and Coach Association:

Dear Members and None-members,

BCA can now confirm that Infringement Proceedings have been issued against the UK authorities.

EU Commission has taken action against the DFT as a result of their failure to implement the EC regulation 1071/2009 Access to the Profession in full.

This confirms that exemptions allowed in the UK transport acts are unlawful. It also clarifies that any undertaking involved in road passenger transport taking payment for fares and bidding for contracts will require the appropriate O licenses and drivers will require PCV qualification to operate them and Driver CPC qualification.

To access more information regarding the infringement and the implications and the impact of the situation visit www.busandcoachassociation.org and access the infringement document.


Kind regards

Martin Allen.
Bus and Coach Association

I've read through EC Regulation 1071/2009 (another boring evening on Facebook) and it clearly states that "commercial operation" is regardless of the status of the operator, whether or not it is a "not for profit" organisation.

It also states the exemptions as being small local operations that will not impact on competition presumably meaning the scout minibus which is what the s19 permits were originally intended for, not operations involving hundreds of vehicles under the "not for profit" banner.

My bus number (if any): RML2532,GS67,MLL721,MLL738 and an RT.