Driving Instruction: Coronavirus

(asked on 9th March 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the £300 cost for the Approved Driving Instructor teaching licence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of awarding driving instructors with backdated refunds or discounts for the periods during the covid-19 outbreak in which they were not allowed to practise.


Answered by
Rachel Maclean Portrait
Rachel Maclean
This question was answered on 12th March 2021

The 4-year duration of the approved driving instructor (ADI) registration is set out in the Road Traffic Act. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has no powers to extend this period, nor to waive, reduce or refund any part of the £300 fee. There are no plans to make changes to primary legislation.

The Road Traffic Act provides that those approved driving instructors (ADI) who allow their registration to lapse have up to a year to apply to re-join the register without having to requalify. ADIs do not pay directly for their standards checks nor their Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, other than the £6 identification verification fee, which is payable to the Post Office.

The £300 ADI registration fee covers all the costs of administration of the register, including the arrangement and conduct of standards checks and the DBS cost. The requirement for the fee is specified in the Act. There are no powers to waive the fee and there are no plans to make changes to primary legislation.

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