Work to deliver proposed reform measures for the Driver CPC qualification is expected to advance over the coming months. It comes after the process for laying the necessary legislation in parliament was restarted by the new government during early autumn.
Under the previous administration, that legislation was first laid on 20 May, but progress stalled with the general election. The most notable change within the proposals is creation of a National Driver CPC for drivers that work only within the UK.
The new government says that the planned changes “aim to be introduced in late 2024 or early 2025.” No date has yet been set for parliamentary debate. Proposed measures apply only to the new National Driver CPC. The international Driver CPC will be unchanged.
Other elements of the planned National Driver CPC include permitting courses to be done in 3.5-hour blocks rather than the current seven hours to allow greater flexibility; decoupling e-learning from trainer-led courses; and from 2025, speeding up the process for drivers whose Driver CPC has expired to return to vocational driving.
The latter amendment will apply only where a Driver CPC expired up to two years previously. Drivers wishing to regain a National Driver CPC under that circumstance will have the option to do to so via a new seven-hour ‘return to driving’ training module.
They will then be able to restart driving professionally in the UK subject to taking a further 28 hours of National or International Driver CPC training within 12 months of completing the initial module.
It remains the case that a proposed periodic test renewal mechanism for the National Driver CPC will not be forthcoming via the current work. A consultation in 2023 on such a change drew mixed results and the previous government said that further scoping is required before that proposal can progress.
Full proposed reform measures for Driver CPC here.
