Surplus of Driver CPC training centres is good news for operators

By Categories: NewsPublished On: Wednesday 17 July 2013

dcpcThere are nearly three times as many Driver CPC (DCPC) training centres in operation as were anticipated, and more than enough capacity to train everyone before the September deadlines this year (bus) and next (truck), according to Peter Weddell-Hall, head of training accreditation at the Driving Standards Agency.  

Speaking at the 2013 Road Haulage Association training conference at Warwick University, Mr Weddell-Hall said that 634,000 out of an estimated 750,000 vocational drivers were now engaged in the training process, and that the number of accredited training centres was far greater than had been anticipated.

“Of the drivers who have started training, more than half have done three days training or more,” he reported. “And there is over-provision. When the Driver CPC was set up, we anticipated there being 500 training centres. Today there are 1,400.”

Liz Heaton, the senior training accreditation services manager at the Driving Standards Agency said that the number of centres continued to grow, with JAUPT currently receiving an average of 20 applications a month. But she cautioned that just 48 of the accredited centres had delivered half of all the training undertaken so far.

Concerns remained however, including regarding a number of drivers and employers who still appeared to believe that there was no need to train as the DCPC legislation would not be enforced. Mr Weddell-Hall said such individuals should not be given false hope by the consultation over whether the limited exemptions from training currently given to mechanics and vehicle delivery drivers should be extended (see opposite).

“There are no plans to extend the consultation to cover other areas: the Driver CPC is here to stay,” he asserted.

Asked whether the DCPC would be abolished if Britain left the EU, he pointed out that Switzerland, which had never been an EU member, was going ahead with implementing the legislation.

The conference’s planned ‘star attraction’, senior traffic commissioner Beverley Bell, had been unable to attend, but the resourceful RHA head of training Arnold Monk had instead put a number of questions regarding enforcement to traffic commissioner Kevin Rooney, and relayed these to the audience.

He said that the traffic commissioners had the power to suspend the vocational licence of drivers caught driving ‘in scope’ of the regulation, but without a DCPC, and could take further action against the operator’s licence of their employer, which might include suspending it until all drivers were trained or even revoking it if abuse of the law continued.

The core issues for drivers to focus upon in their training were daily walk-around checks and drivers hours, as mechanical defects and excessive hours were the two main reasons for operators and drivers appearing in front of him.

Mr Rooney’s message was reinforced by the subsequent presentation from James Backhouse of Backhouse Jones Solicitors. He cautioned that while the penalties for drivers who did not have the qualification were comparatively mild, with a fixed penalty of £30 and a maximum fine of £1,000, the consequences could be far more serious if the driver was summoned to appear before the commissioner, where he would be likely to have his vocational licence suspended until he was trained.

He warned against any attempt to make a liberal interpretation of exemptions to avoid training.

“If you are unsure, assume you are not exempt,” he advised.   

He also pointed out a possible and serious financial implication of driving while not DCPC-qualified.

“The basic offences aren’t that serious – but the implications may be. I think it may be likely that Driver CPC will become an insurance requirement over the next few years. If it does, then an employer could find they are sued for the third-party’s claim costs by their insurer if an unqualified driver is involved in a claim incident.

“A large claim, and some are in the millions, will wipe the operator out.”

Speaking to Transport Operator after the conference has closed, Derek Broomfield, the chairman of training provider Novadata TAB, said he thought there was a danger that the headline figures for driver training penetration might give a false impression of widespread acceptance across the industry.

“I suspect that many of the restricted O-licence holders and own-account operators with just a single vehicle that is not used every day are still either unaware of Driver CPC, or believe that it does not apply to them because they don’t think of themselves as being in transport,” he said.

Image Crown copyright Driving Standards Agency