Driving Instruction: Coronavirus

(asked on 25th November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that driving schools are able to re-open safely, as taxi companies have been permitted to, in the context of the covid-19 outbreak.


Answered by
Rachel Maclean Portrait
Rachel Maclean
This question was answered on 4th December 2020

As business owners, approved driving instructors (ADI) are responsible for ensuring their services remain safe and COVID-secure. Guidance on how ADIs can carry out risk assessments can be found on the Health and Safety Executive’s website at: https:www.hse.gov.uk

The requirement for pupils to wear PPE during a lesson is the decision of the driving instructor and the pupil.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has worked closely with trade associations, such as the National Associations Strategic Partnership (NASP), and shared its plans with them to allow NASP to publish guidance for ADIs. NASP has also produced guidance on training which is available online at: www.n-a-s-p.co.uk/

The DVSA has also signposted ADIs to Government guidance on safety in vehicles and while working. A copy of the guidance can be found online at: https:www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-restarting-driver- and-rider-training-and-tests

The DVSA does not have sufficient or direct powers to instruct ADIs to take certain measures; it can only offer guidance, which is what it has done.

Reticulating Splines