Whether employers should have more obligation to support staff with the cost of Driver CPC (DCPC) training will be within scope of the recently announced review of that process.
That is among several points that DVSA says will be examined as part of an exercise that it describes as being part of a wider exploration of ways to encourage vocational driver recruitment and to help tackle driver shortages.
Recommendations from the review will be made by the end of 2022. Its rationale is to look at how DCPC can be updated to reduce the burden on returning and new drivers and ensure that “it does not act as a barrier to working in the sector while maintaining road safety standards.”
Examination will also be made of:
- The scope of DCPC, including where it includes non-professional drivers
- Whether different training requirements should apply for more experienced drivers
- Whether the current requirement for 35 hours’ periodic training should be more evenly spread over the five-year period (although advice already recommends that to be the case)
- Whether drivers new to DCPC should cover a range of topics
- Whether durations for each training course are rigid, as they currently last seven hours or can be split into two, 3.5-hour sessions
- Whether DCPC qualifications obtained in the EU should continue to be recognised in the UK for drivers moving to live and work here.
DVSA says that the review was agreed after industry leaders called on the government for DCPC reform. Trade body RHA quickly moved to applaud the step, saying that ministers had “heeded [its] advice” in launching the work. When announcing it on 9 November, Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps gave a hint that the cost burden on drivers of DCPC would come under the microscope.
The Agency adds that further information on how the exercise can be contributed to will be disclosed in due course.
