New government moves ahead with Driver CPC reforms

By Categories: NewsPublished On: Thursday 3 October 2024

The new government has announced today that it intends to proceed with the previous administration’s planned reforms to the Driver CPC scheme, with the aim of introducing them in late 2024 or early 2025.

The changes were laid before parliament earlier this year, but the announcement of the general election meant they were unable to make progress through the legislative system prior to prorogation.

The reforms include the introduction of a new National Driver CPC (N-DCPC) designed to provide increased flexibility within the scheme for those who do not intend to drive abroad.

The existing qualification, now known as International Driver CPC or I-DCPC, will continue to exist for UK drivers who are or intend to be engaged in continental work, but will not benefit from the same new flexibilities due to European law.

Meanwhile the new N-DCPC will enable training courses to be completed in minimum blocks of 3.5 hours rather than the current seven hours, and will decouple e-learning from trainer-led courses.

A means of speeding up the process of returning to driving in the UK for those whose Driver CPC has lapsed is also to be included as part of the changes.

“The new government has restarted the process for the legislation to be laid in parliament,” said the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) in an official bulletin.

“The date that the debate will take place is still to be confirmed.

“You do not need to do anything at this point. We will keep you updated on progress, including details on new National Driver CPC courses and when and where to access them if the reforms go ahead.”

The reforms were initially set in motion following a 2023 consultation, which also considered introducing a periodic theory test for N-DCPC as an alternative to continuous training, but DVSA says response on this proposal from industry was ‘mixed’.

“We will continue to keep under review the possibility of the introduction of a test,” the agency added.

More information on the planned changes is available at gov.uk.