A restart of Driver CPC reform is welcome, because that process – begun by the previous government – could easily have hogged the backburner long term, given the volume of other transport policy work that is underway.
The proposed changes remain as presented previously, majoring on a split into separate national and international qualifications. The latter will remain as Driver CPC is now. The former will introduce flexibility enabled by the UK’s departure from the EU, although a mooted periodic test renewal is less advanced. Its ultimate progress looks uncertain.
With Driver CPC overhaul underway again, it must be hoped that ministers do the same with previously planned amendments to the 50km, regular service restriction on the youngest PCV drivers. Flawed as the original plan for that was by including only regular services in a relaxation, it was a strong first step.
Under-Secretary of State for Transport Simon Lightwood said on 8 October that the Labour government is keen to reopen the file on the 50km conundrum. Multiple trade bodies have called for the restriction to go altogether. The government has a strong focus on skills, and its reform of the cumbersome Apprenticeship Levy illustrates that.
As coach operators have already noted, the current 50km limit leaves them hamstrung in being able to fully utilise young people straight out of secondary education as drivers. Concurrently, there is a wider societal problem with the proportion of that demographic that is outside employment.
The pieces fall together relatively simply, when they are looked at. Staff shortage, training, skills – and a productive job driving a coach via licence reform. Any necessary change to pay is within the gift of operators, as is a commitment to training. The need for the industry to help itself is clear. Government will not do all the work in the driver shortage realm.
But with persuasion by the industry’s representatives, ministers are surely clever enough to see how that jigsaw can be solved via a strategic approach rather than by throwing the pieces into the air and hoping that a few fall into place.
Neither reform of Driver CPC nor removal of the 50km restriction are a panacea, either on their own or together. While for some operators the driver shortage is less acute than when at its peak, others report that it has worsened of late. Ironically, Driver CPC will be in play there, given the recent five-year expiry for some staff.
Coach and bus is not the only sector with an almost permanent shortage of vocational drivers. While reform of Driver CPC and the 50km restriction will mitigate that issue, neither will put it to bed.
Accomplishing that must be a long-term objective for all concerned. Policies for transport and other areas will not be delivered with a hand-to-mouth driver supply. Amid table-thumping announcements beloved of Mr Lightwood’s boss Louise Haigh and other internal challenges facing the industry, that point needs to be remembered.
