The Confederation of Passenger Transport is calling for “clear, concise and enforceable regulations to ensure passenger safety” in relation to the use of Section 19 and 22 Permits.
Responding to a consultation on DfT’s controversial plans to reduce the types of work that community transport charities can do under a permit, the CPT has asked for “rules that are simple, fair and clear.”
Trying to define a distance for operations that would be allowed under a permit because they have a minimal effect on the market is “wrong in principle and unworkable in practice,” says the CPT.
The CPT also opposes the suggestion that the value of volunteers’ time could be used to inflate the cost of operations and create an artificial appearance that the income for the work done did not cover the cost.
Steven Salmon, CPT Head of Policy Development says: “CPT has always maintained that the market rules for local transport should be based on safety and consumer protection, and not on the charitable status of players.
“The DfT consultation moves in the right direction, but it raises a number of detailed suggestions which worry us because they risk replacing one sort of unfair competition with others.”
The CPT’s response to the DfT’s consultation is here
