Grumbles from the Gearbox
HMG Feedback and Appeal for Help
The Latest replies from HMG and the DVSA to our members plus an appeal for members to contact their MPs.
See more...read on.
Yesterday one of our members Damian Heaney, received a reply from his MP. He had emailed him with a question asking for information on our current situation. Damian has been kind enough today to give me permission to share this with our members.
"Got the following reply from my MP today": (Mon 1/6/20 yesterday to us as I needed to sleep last night.)
"Got the following reply from my MP today": (Mon 1/6/20 yesterday to us as I needed to sleep last night.)
The Department for Transport has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (47252):
Question:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether driving instructors are permitted to teach non-key worker pupils under covid-19 lockdown rules; and what covid-19 safety guidelines those instructors are subject to. (47252)
Tabled on: 15 May 2020
Answer to:
Alec Shelbrooke:
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) recommends that, currently, approved driving instructors (ADI) should only provide lessons to candidates who have an essential need.
ADIs should ask pupils to bring appropriate identification to demonstrate the need for the lesson: a payslip, letter or identification badge should suffice.
When providing driving lessons, all ADIs should put in place appropriate measures, in line with the latest Public Heath England and Cabinet Office guidance, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. It is the responsibility of the ADI and the pupil to consider the risks to their health and to decide if the driving lesson is essential.
ADIs whose registration lapses in the next three months, and who are observing government guidelines not to work, can delay renewing their registration until restrictions are lifted. Legislation provides that ADIs have one year in which to apply to re-register without having to take the qualification tests again.
The answer was submitted on 26 May 2020 at 15:26.
As I am typing I see a notice has been posted by another member Chris Bensted who has today (2/6/20) received this following message from the DVSA on behalf of Grant Shapps. Chris, also has kindly given me permission to share his letter here on the blog.
Dear Mr Benstead <Spelt wrongly...>
Thank you for your email of 1 May email to the Secretary of State for Transport detailing your concerns with the lack of guidance for approved driving instructors (ADI) during the Covid-19 outbreak.
It is usual practice in Whitehall Departments for correspondence to be passed to the appropriate policy team or Executive Agency to reply on the Minister’s behalf. Your email was passed to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and I have been asked to reply.
Using the latest Government guidance, we are working closely with the Approved Driving Instructors National Association Strategic Partnership (NASP) to develop appropriate plans and control measures that will enable the resumption of non-essential driving lessons. We will keep the situation under review and provide further information over the next few weeks.
As you are aware, ADIs can continue to provide tuition to pupils if the lesson is considered essential. It is the responsibility of the ADI, and the pupil, to decide if the driving lesson is critical. Our top priority is to stop the spread of coronavirus and keep everyone safe. But it is also important we are able to provide people whose work is critical to the coronavirus response, the ability to take a driving test if they have an essential need.
It is up to the individual driving instructor whether they feel comfortable to instruct critical workers during this time, and we are grateful to those who have continued to teach those who need an essential test.
We have shared the personal protective arrangements we have for examiners, with NASP. This might help instructors develop their own arrangements during this time. We would recommend that all ADIs should put in place appropriate health and safety measures, in line with the latest Public Heath England and Cabinet Office guidance, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Our current guidance remains as detailed in our Chief Executive’s letter to ADIs and our FAQs both detailed on the NASP website.
We are continually evaluating the current situation and are working closely with key stakeholders from the car, motorcycle and vocational industries to establish how to begin resuming our service of providing driving tests. Before practical driving tests are reintroduced, we will inform the driver training industry. This will help candidates prepare and reach the standard of driving needed to pass their test.
We remain committed to resuming testing for all candidates as soon as it is safe to do so and in line with further Government advice.
We will provide further updates on providing driving lessons and driving tests as soon as we can.
Yours sincerely,
KM
Corporate Liaison
and finally we have received a message from another of our members Wayne Hawke who recently sent a message to his local radio station Radio Hallam in Sheffield. Wayne also has kindly given me permission to post his text in here.
Hi, I heard one of your presenters wondering how driving lessons are going on.
Hi, I heard one of your presenters wondering how driving lessons are going on.
I can tell you there not going on, we can't take any one other that critical workers with a driving test booked
40000 plus self employed driving instructors are out of a job with its regulator unwilling to communicate with them, most haven't earned anything since lock down, apart from a grant if they quality or state benefits.
Thousands of instructors are struggling financially, loads have found other jobs and won't return, trainee instructors can't Continue with their training and a lot of the older ones have just called it a day, most probably there will be a shortage of driving instructors when ever we're giving the green light to return to work.
I apologise if this seems to be a bit of a rant.
Wayne Hawke ADI
Radio Hallam reply: "Cheers Wayne, it's a really tough time and I hope we can get out of it soon for everyone's sake. All the best, Big John"
As you can see we have members up and down the country writing, or contacting their local MPs and media sources trying hard to get the message across and gain answers. In yesterday's blog the Grumbler wrote about me writing to my MP who is chair of the Transport Committee in parliament, Grant Shapps plus The CEO of the DVSA a while back and that letter was seen widely across all networks. Our President and Chairperson have also been busy asking questions on our behalf with their own MPs and the DVSA. NASP have finally joined in with the tougher and more serious questions having realised the situation their members are now in.
To this end I have complied an email for all to consider copying and pasting and then sending off to their own MP. Please, copy paste and send with your own details to your MP. As can be seen from the members above, we will get results, even if they do take some time to come through. If we all just sit on the sofa twiddling our thumbs then nothing will change. You have a chance to get your voice heard and help us all out. From East Sussex to East Lothian and from Anglesey to East Anglia we need your help to let our legislators know that we count, we need to be noticed and we need their help.
Thank you all for taking the time to read this and as usual, if I have made any errors let me know, plus if you like what you read and want to join the AADI family then follow this link. After you have copied and pasted the email below into your email and sent, of course.
Don Harris
Please send a copy to your MP of the letter below, we need their help and it is why we voted them into office, to represent us. Time to call in the favour.
If you do not know who your MP is just follow this link and enter your postcode. Cheers.
Dear ................. (Your MPs Name.)
I am writing to you as one of your constituents and in my capacity as an ADI (Approved Driving Instructor). .
As an industry/profession we provide drivers for just about every other profession on the planet. Hospitals, schools, industry, aviation, public transport and the arts to name just a few, all rely on us to provide the drivers they need to function, yet we feel we have become the forgotten 40,000.
We need help in the form of information so that we can plan our route back to work safely.
The DVSA have the phone number and email address of every single ADI and PDI (trainee) in the country so that they can contact them digitally, to avoid surface mail expense, and yet use an association called NASP that represents just around 10,000-15,000 ADIs as many of their members overlap and hold dual, often triple membership. Yet there are tens of thousands of ADIs across the UK that are receiving virtually no information whatsoever, apart from social media gossip and feel they have been all but abandoned by the DVSA. Even NASP are now saying their information is misleading in their latest release.
We have received financial assistance as self-employed but some of my colleagues have fallen through the net and are suffering severe financial hardship. We need to have a plan as to when we can return to work, at the present the DVSA keep moving tests after booking them and we are unable to plan our restart programme for the pupils. If they cannot conduct tests then say so and wait until they can be done not have them like movable feasts. If HMG scientists say there is no way driving tests and lessons can begin before JUly, August, September, so be it at least we can plan for it. Please help us on this to get clarity.
In addition, we are experts on road safety, the highways and teaching our pupils to drive to the best of their ability but have no knowledge on PPE to make our teaching environment safe and there is none out there available to us, just confusing and often misguided notions from unqualified people.
Please can you advise the DVSA to give us the information that we need in order to plan ahead and get our house in order.
I thank you for your assistance in this and look forward to your reply.
Kind Regards.
name....................................ADI
address............................................
.........................................................
.........................................................
Postcode................................
Phone......................................
Thank you and Keep Safe out there by staying apart- get spaced out!
The DVsA response to recent media criticism about the current test waiting times is to throw in the kitchen sink - but, is this the right solution?
Are the DvSA morally bankrupt?
Why bother, the job is not what it used to be?
Where on earth does the dvsa thinking come from, we know where it belongs?
The AADI is offering to help the dvsa with its poor public image to help clear up some confusing issues on the driving test for driving instructors and learners in the UK and make their lives easier.
AADI advising the dvsa, and they are at last listening.
Did the dvsa go too far opening new theory centres when tests are not available?
We are all Ambassadors for our chosen profession
Dear dvsa,
DVSA thanks for all the recent emails,... keeping us ADIs up to date. I should like to discuss with you a few of the points that you have raised.
"It is all our fault (the ADI) that the booking system is in chaos and our fault that candidates are not turning up for the test".
how the dvsa fails its customers on a daily basis
