DVSA proposes to beef up prohibition powers

Online driving licence verification service Licencecheck has drawn attention to proposals by the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) for its staff to be given the authority to prohibit vehicles themselves when a driver is caught behind the wheel without a valid licence, rather than calling on the police.

Currently, according to the ongoing Department for Transport (DfT) consultation into the work of the motoring service agencies, “where DVSA needs to prohibit a vehicle where the driver doesn’t have the appropriate driver licence, such prohibition requires a call to the police to take the action.” But DfT now says that DVSA is “seeking approval” for its staff to prohibit vehicles themselves.

The Road Traffic Act 1988 gives DVSA inspectors a range of powers to prohibit vehicles on roadworthiness and overloading grounds, but offers no such provision for enforcement officers where the fitness of the driver is concerned; and it is unclear whether such a change would entail amendments to this or other legislation.

But Licencecheck has thrown its support behind the proposals, with managing director Richard Brown commenting that: “cutting out a layer of policing for this common issue will mean a swifter resolution, ensuring drivers will not be on the road that do not have the correct licence entitlement.”

He continued: “It’s clear that police resourcing is increasingly under pressure, and allowing the DVSA to take on responsibility themselves for this important licensing issue will make UK roads a safer place.”

Licencecheck said that the move would complement DVSA’s plans to focus resources squarely on the non-compliant, through the earned recognition scheme – which will encourage larger operators to provide fleet management data to the enforcement agency automatically, thereby remotely demonstrating their compliance.

“While these proposed changes are primarily driven by cost savings, they are certainly one way of addressing the unlicensed vocational driver issue,” said Brown.

“For larger goods vehicles and passenger vehicles, another positive action would be to make Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) and tacho card information available to operators as part of the driving licence check.”

Licencecheck highlighted a recent survey it undertook that it said revealed “universal support” for detailed CPC data to be made available to operators as part of the licence verification process.

“Ensuring that unlicensed drivers never leave a depot in the first place by making their licence entitlement and other qualification information available from a single source would seem to tick a number of consultation boxes,” Brown added.

The DfT consultation, which seeks industry views on a range of issues affecting commercial vehicle operators, is open until 8 January, and can be accessed here.