Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department (a) is offering and (b) plans to offer financial support to driving instructors following changes to the BE driving licence.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The changes to BE licensing rules are amongst 32 different actions the Government is taking to increase the number of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers and the number of tests available.
All car drivers wishing to tow a trailer or caravan for leisure or business are still encouraged to undertake voluntary training through an accreditation scheme the trailer industry and training providers are developing with support from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency. This will include training for those who tow for leisure and for business requirements.
Responses from the consultation indicated that many drivers who are required to tow as part of the work they do, will continue to take training, and that employers, as part of their corporate responsibility, insurance requirements and health and safety compliance, will also require their employees to undertake appropriate training. As such there will continue to be a market for trailer towing training.
Businesses that have been affected by the BE changes are advised to seek further advice and support from the Business Support Line at www.gov.uk/business-support-helpline.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department made of the potential risk to road safety prior to the decision in September 2021 to cease the requirement to take the B+E test to tow a trailer or caravan with a car.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) takes its commitment to road safety extremely seriously and continues to work with the industry and stakeholders to drive forward the importance of safe driving and safe towing.
The Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) driver shortage has been well documented and is an issue that is affecting people and businesses throughout the world. The Government has acted decisively to help address the HGV driver shortage and announced a range of measures to help the industry recover from the pandemic. A public consultation exercise was launched to seek views on changes to the HGV driving test. The proposal to remove the requirement for car drivers to take a B+E test if they want to tow a trailer was subject to that public consultation. The consultation received over 9,500 responses and most respondents supported the proposals. The DVSA has analysed the responses and published a summary of the public feedback on these proposals on GOV.UK
The car and trailer licence changes announced on 10 September 2021 have now been approved by Parliament and came into force on 16 December 2021.
All car drivers wishing to tow a trailer or caravan for leisure or business are still encouraged to undertake voluntary training through an accreditation scheme, which is being developed with the trailer industry and training providers.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of providing compensation for B+E Towing training companies for any lost revenues whilst new drivers are unable to gain the ability to undertake B+E Car and Trailer Towing.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government has acted decisively to help address the HGV driver shortage and has announced a range of measures to help the industry recover from the pandemic.
The proposal to remove the requirement for car drivers to take a B+E test if they want to tow a trailer, was subject to a public consultation exercise. The consultation received over 9,500 responses and most respondents supported the proposals. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is exploring options for an industry-led accreditation that could offer a standardised non-statutory testing approach. It has now met with key stakeholders to discuss this issue and will share the outcome of those discussions in due course, once plans have been confirmed.
The Department and the DVSA will continue to encourage people who want to tow a trailer to get professional training to promote road safety and support those businesses.
Businesses who have been affected by these changes are advised to seek further advice and support from the Business Support Line at www.gov.uk/business-support-helpline
Asked by: Lord Bassam of Brighton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what data they hold on the safety impact of the B+E car and trailer test; and what criteria they will use to review the impact on safety of the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) (No. 5) Regulations 2021 after three years.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
There is not currently any statistical evidence to categorically say that competence and skills will worsen if drivers do not take a statutory test to tow a trailer. Road safety has significantly improved over recent decades for several reasons, and it is therefore difficult to identify how much the car trailer test (Category B+E) has made a difference since it was introduced in 1997 or that there is a causal link between road safety and the test. The number of trailer accidents is low, with the proportion of accidents of cars/vans towing a trailer compared to all car/van accidents, as roughly 0.45% in 2019.
Over recent decades, there has been a decline in the number of personal injury accidents for cars/vans towing trailers (with current 2019 accident figures of 474 being around a third of the total in 1997, 1442 accidents). This is likely due to several factors including vehicle safety improvements, road infrastructure improvements, other changes to licencing laws, as well as changes to the theory and practical test (for example the introduction of the hazard perception test). We also know that the number of personal injury accidents involving at least one car or van has also declined over this period (whereby total accidents have halved from 222,181 in 1997 down to 108,348 in 2019).
In respect of the demographics of the drivers towing trailers, our statistics show that individuals generally only start getting their car and trailer licence (Category B+E licences) from their late 30s and 40s onwards, indicating that people tend to start towing within the later age groups. Analysis of the proportion of licence holders relative to accidents involving a vehicle towing a trailer by age reveals injury accidents are higher within lower age groups relative to the number of licences, which mirrors the collision statistics for drivers more generally – although this excludes ages groups above 41 as anyone with a B licence pre-1997 would have acquired automatic right to the B+E licence.
We have committed in the regulations to a post-implementation review after three years and then after five years. We will keep monitoring and gathering data throughout this time to understand the impact on road safety and will take action if needed.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he hash to resume mandatory testing for people towing light trailers.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency will continue to encourage people who want to drive a car and trailer to get professional training to promote road safety and support those businesses.
There are no plans to resume mandatory testing for people towing light trailers.
Legal processes must be followed, and legislation is currently going through the parliamentary process. The change will be introduced at a later date, and as soon as possible. Drivers must continue to follow the current rules until the law changes.
The legislation being proposed specifically states that a review must be conducted three years after the law comes into force and again at five years to ensure the safety of our roads has not been compromised by these changes.
No assessment has been undertaken of the cost to the public purse. A new statutory instrument with an amended coming into force date will be laid in Parliament shortly.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Statutory Instrument on Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2021, by what date he plans to resolve the situation for people who would have been obliged to take the B+E test have had their tests cancelled.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency will continue to encourage people who want to drive a car and trailer to get professional training to promote road safety and support those businesses.
There are no plans to resume mandatory testing for people towing light trailers.
Legal processes must be followed, and legislation is currently going through the parliamentary process. The change will be introduced at a later date, and as soon as possible. Drivers must continue to follow the current rules until the law changes.
The legislation being proposed specifically states that a review must be conducted three years after the law comes into force and again at five years to ensure the safety of our roads has not been compromised by these changes.
No assessment has been undertaken of the cost to the public purse. A new statutory instrument with an amended coming into force date will be laid in Parliament shortly.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Statutory Instrument on Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2021, what plans he has to implement changes to the testing process for B+E tests.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency will continue to encourage people who want to drive a car and trailer to get professional training to promote road safety and support those businesses.
There are no plans to resume mandatory testing for people towing light trailers.
Legal processes must be followed, and legislation is currently going through the parliamentary process. The change will be introduced at a later date, and as soon as possible. Drivers must continue to follow the current rules until the law changes.
The legislation being proposed specifically states that a review must be conducted three years after the law comes into force and again at five years to ensure the safety of our roads has not been compromised by these changes.
No assessment has been undertaken of the cost to the public purse. A new statutory instrument with an amended coming into force date will be laid in Parliament shortly.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Statutory Instrument on Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2021, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the withdrawn statutory instrument.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency will continue to encourage people who want to drive a car and trailer to get professional training to promote road safety and support those businesses.
There are no plans to resume mandatory testing for people towing light trailers.
Legal processes must be followed, and legislation is currently going through the parliamentary process. The change will be introduced at a later date, and as soon as possible. Drivers must continue to follow the current rules until the law changes.
The legislation being proposed specifically states that a review must be conducted three years after the law comes into force and again at five years to ensure the safety of our roads has not been compromised by these changes.
No assessment has been undertaken of the cost to the public purse. A new statutory instrument with an amended coming into force date will be laid in Parliament shortly.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Statutory Instrument on Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2021, what discussions he has had with the DVSA on the legal status of drivers towing light trailers whose B+E tests were cancelled from 20 September 2021.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Department and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency will continue to encourage people who want to drive a car and trailer to get professional training to promote road safety and support those businesses.
There are no plans to resume mandatory testing for people towing light trailers.
Legal processes must be followed, and legislation is currently going through the parliamentary process. The change will be introduced at a later date, and as soon as possible. Drivers must continue to follow the current rules until the law changes.
The legislation being proposed specifically states that a review must be conducted three years after the law comes into force and again at five years to ensure the safety of our roads has not been compromised by these changes.
No assessment has been undertaken of the cost to the public purse. A new statutory instrument with an amended coming into force date will be laid in Parliament shortly.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their announcement that UK drivers who passed their test after 1 January 1997 will no longer be required to take a specialist test to tow a trailer of up to 3,500 kilograms, what were the reasons for this change; and what assessment have they made of the safety implications of the change.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
In September, the Government implemented changes to streamline the HGV driver testing process and free up more examiner capacity. With regards to the removal of B+E requirement, car drivers will no longer need to take another test to tow a trailer or caravan which will allow around 30,000 extra HGV driving tests to be conducted every year.
Road safety remains of paramount importance, and we are already working with training providers developing options for an industry-led accreditation scheme for trailer training. This could offer a standardised training and assessment approach for any driver wishing to tow a trailer, keeping driving and towing skills current and of a high standard. There is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that competence and skills will worsen if drivers do not take a statutory test to tow a trailer.