Driving Instruction

(asked on 22nd September 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has conducted an (a) impact and (b) risk assessment on removing the requirement for specific car and trailer training.


Answered by
Trudy Harrison Portrait
Trudy Harrison
This question was answered on 18th October 2021

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) takes its commitment to road safety extremely seriously and it will work with the industry and stakeholders to drive forward the importance of safe driving and safe towing.

The vocational test changes will not affect the standard of driving required to drive a heavy goods vehicle (HGV), with road safety continuing to be of paramount importance. Any driver who does not demonstrate utmost competence will not be granted a licence.

Legislative changes are usually subject to a post implementation review which gives the opportunity to review and potentially update the changes made. The Department will keep these changes under review to ensure they are effective and help increase HGV testing capacity to meet demand whilst ensuring road safety is not compromised in the process.

The DVSA is exploring options for an industry-led accreditation that could offer a standardised non-statutory testing approach, and is engaging with key stakeholders, trainers and insurers, to discuss this issue.

The DVSA is also in discussions with the training industry to understand their capacity to deliver the off-road manoeuvres element of the vocational test and will work with them to develop a robust and clear process by which to assess, accredit and audit any trainers who wish to assess the manoeuvres element of the test.

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