Two campaigns formed favouring different resolutions to ongoing community transport crisis; no sign of an early end to the matter, which will enter a period of consultation over enforcement very soon
Opposing sides of the industry have begun campaigning as they hope to influence the Department for Transport (DfT) consultation on changes to enforcement policies surrounding the use of Section 19 and Section 22 permits.
In August, DfT Head of Buses and Taxis Stephen Fidler confirmed that the Department now considers the operation of tendered duties using permit to be illegal.
Mr Fidler’s announcement came after a crusade by the Bus and Coach Association. It called for EU Regulation 1071/2009, which prohibits commercial operation using permits and has major implications for driver licensing, to be enforced.
Now, two parties with opposing aims have been established ahead of the consultation, which in Britain is expected to begin during the autumn.
Mobility Matters, which is assisted by the TAS Partnership consultancy, intends to challenge the proposed changes. It says that an “unforeseen interpretation of the term non-commercial flies in the face of all other guidance previously issued… and current accepted practice.”
Meanwhile, the Greater Than 8 campaign is petitioning the DfT to remove the exceptions for volunteer drivers and weight limits, meaning that all drivers of minibuses with eight or more seats would need to hold an unrestricted D1 license.
Greater Than 8 is led by Chris Maynard, MD of Bicester-based minibus leasing, rental and driver training company Castle Minibus. “We want the DfT to remove the exceptions to vehicle weight and which allow volunteer drivers so that all minibuses carrying eight or more passengers must have drivers that hold a full category D1 license,” says Mr Maynard. Greater Than 8 is not campaigning on the requirements for O-Licenses or permit usage.
Mobility Matters claims that since Mr Fidler’s bombshell for the community transport industry, some CTOs have already ceased operating. It also notes that some local authorities have taken “the precautionary and pre-emptive stance” of cancelling or changing the terms of contracts,” despite no actual change in the law. miniplus has seen evidence that the latter is correct.
Mobility Matters wants to raise awareness of the value of community transport and provide clarity and guidance to CTOs. It also intends to obtain a legal opinion to examine whether the DfT “is either required or able to enforce its new interpretation of the regulations.”
“Changes in interpretation that are as drastic as those being proposed could impact on hundreds of thousands of people and they need to be tested in court before [the DfT] thinks about implementation,” says TAS Partnership Director John Taylor.
“To protect valuable services across the country, we believe that instead of what is proposed, a more holistic and fully sympathetic review of the permit system is needed.”
