In reponse to Patrick Goodwin’s letter [routeone/letters/25 October], Castle Minibus do lease and hire minibuses and provide D1, MiDAS, and compliance training for the education sector.
He is correct in that we don’t offer ‘light weight’ minibuses as we don’t think converted-panel vans driven by inexperienced Category B category licence holders is a safe option.
Because we are a trusted advisor to schools, teachers, governors and bursars and speak to them on a regular basis, we need to be giving accurate advice on minibus licencing. When we researched the legalities, we found contradictory government and legal advice.
While some may consider teachers to be volunteers, legal advice obtained by several county councils is to the contrary.
In 2002 the then Minister for Schools concurred with Hertfordshire County Council’s solicitor's view that teachers needed to hold Category D1 entitlement on their licence, and that they are not eligible for the exemptions that apply to the voluntary sector.
The idea for the Greater than 8 campaign was to end confusion by simply removing all exceptions.
Patrick mentions he is employed by a charity, but there are volunteer drivers who are heavily relied upon. Unfortunately, there have been charitable firms bidding and winning commercial contracts using Category B or restricted D1 volunteer licence holders enabling them to undercut commercial companies with drivers holding PCV and unrestricted D1 licences.
While I am in no way suggesting his charity does this, this misuse of the Section 19 and 22 permits has become an issue and is being reviewed.
We do have a commercial interest in the school minibus sector, but what we are more interested in is making sure our clients are fully protected legally out on the road.
As the current government guidance is contradicted by legal advice, the voluntary exemption is not only being exploited, but is adding to the confusion surrounding licences, which is the reason why we seek a straight-forward solution that all drivers of eight plus passenger vehicles hold the unrestricted D1 licence.
This will also bring us into line with how the rest of the 27 countries in Europe have operated minibuses for the last 20 years or so.
Chris Maynard, Managing Director,
Castle Minibus, Bicester
