The Department for Transport (DfT) used the day that the House of Commons rose for its summer recess to publish an interim summary of responses to its consultation into Section 19 and 22 permits and how to apply EU Regulation 1071/2009.
It follows a promise by Minister Jesse Norman MP to publish before the summer recess.
The document gives the initial findings from the consultation and the next steps towards determining the final response.
The DfT says that “themes arising so far” include:
– Further clarity on the proposed text of the guidance
– Including real world or good practice examples of how to evaluate certain types of service
– Differing views on whether ‘not-for-profit’ operators fall within scope of the exemptions in regulation, with a particular focus on the ‘non-commercial’ exemption
The DfT says it will “continue to work to analyse all remaining responses and determine our final approach to the guidance and draft regulations,” before announcing its response in the autumn.
It adds: “While we explore these changes, it would in general be premature for any local authority to end or withhold community transport contracts. “
The DfT received 494 written responses to the consultation, and 550 people attended the workshops that the Department ran.
It says: “The number of responses received, their length and complexity were unusual for consultations of this nature and the consultation analysis has been a more complex task than anticipated.”
As a result the interim summary only contains around 100 responses, plus feedback from the workshops.
Find out more: Report is here
