A “sweeping review” of the Driver CPC (DCPC) process is to be launched by ministers in a bid to improve the periodic training for both existing and returning vocational licence holders. The work will examine how DCPC can be updated to reduce the burden on drivers and ensure that it does not act as a barrier to working within the industries it is relevant to.
While little else has been revealed about what the review will entail, Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps says that ministers want to ensure that drivers remain fully qualified “in the most efficient way possible while maintaining road safety standards.”
A statement from the government notes that “some drivers are left to pay for the training themselves and are not paid while attending their training course.” Industry feedback has suggested that this dissuades former vocational drivers from returning to that work, it adds.
Although the announcement majors on the LGV driver market, it confirms that the review will capture the DCPC training undertaken by PSV drivers. Mr Shapps says that the examination can be undertaken “now we have taken back control of our own laws and regulations.” He adds: “No driver should be out of pocket or out of work through no fault of their own.”
Mr Shapps says that the pending Driver CPC review forms part of a wider stream of work that is intended to increase both the attractiveness of driving vocationally, and the ease of access to it as a career.
Trade body RHA was quick to welcome news of the review. It says the government “has heeded our advice” by launching the work. RHA is calling for an extension of DCPC cards that expire in 2021, along with what it calls a “one for one” policy that will allow a driver to extend their DCPC entitlement for an additional year if they undertake one training module.
