Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on the commitment in the loneliness strategy to increase the numbers of drivers trained to support older and disabled passengers.

The Government believes that community transport operators provide vital services that both encourage growth and reduce isolation by linking people with their communities. Most community transport operators provide vital social care services to older or disabled people as well as those most at risk of isolation.

The Department has taken steps to protect this sector. In March 2019 we clarified the scope of two exemptions to the EU Regulation on operator licensing in guidance and enacted a new additional exemption; so that community transport operators can continue to take vulnerable people to the shops, work, school, hospital and the doctor.

We have committed to fund the Community Transport Association (CTA) to enable the existing Minibus Driver Awareness Scheme (MiDAS) training to be recognised as part of the qualification for professional coach and bus drivers, thereby encouraging an increase in the numbers of drivers trained to support the needs of older, isolated and disabled passengers.