Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to apply for an extension to the exemption to the European Regulation 181/2011/EU for drivers from the requirement for disability awareness training for personnel of carriers and terminal managing bodies after March 2017.

Positive interaction between drivers and disabled passengers can be key to giving many people the confidence to travel by bus, and so I welcome the industry’s continuing efforts to deliver effective disability awareness training within the Certificate of Professional Competence.

Regulation 181/2011 will make such training compulsory for all drivers when the present five year exemption ends in February 2018. The exemption cannot be renewed beyond this date but we are working with bus operators to ensure they have the tools to deliver meaningful training, meeting the needs of drivers and disabled passengers alike.