2015 No. 2024
Road Traffic

The Vehicle Drivers (Certificates of Professional Competence) (Amendment) Regulations 2015

Made
Laid before Parliament
Coming into force
The Secretary of State for Transport makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19721.
The Secretary of State is a Minister designated for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 in relation to the regulation and supervision of qualifications and working conditions of persons engaged in road transport2.

Citation and commencement

1.

These Regulations may be cited as the Vehicle Drivers (Certificates of Professional Competence) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 and come into force on 25th January 2016.

Amendment of Regulations

2.

The Vehicle Drivers (Certificates of Professional Competence) Regulations 20073 are amended as set out in regulations 3 to 5.

3.

(1)

Regulation 2 (interpretation) is amended as follows.

(1)

In paragraph (1)—

(a)

omit the definition of “the Driving Licences Directive”;

(b)

after the definition of “periodic training course” insert—

““prison service”—

(a)

in relation to England and Wales means—

  1. (i)

    Her Majesty’s Prison Service; or

  2. (ii)
    any person acting under a contract for the running of a contracted out prison within the meaning of section 84 of the Criminal Justice Act 19914;

(b)

in relation to Northern Ireland means the Northern Ireland Prison Service; and

(c)

in relation to Scotland means—

  1. (i)

    the Scottish Prison Service; or

  2. (ii)
    any person acting under a contract for the running of a contracted out prison within the meaning of section 106 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 19945;”; and

(c)

for the definition of “relevant vehicle” substitute—

““relevant vehicle” means a vehicle for which is required a driving licence of category C, C+E, D or D+E as defined—

(a)

in relation to Great Britain, in Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the Driving Licences Regulations6; and

(b)

in relation to Northern Ireland, in Part 1 of Schedule 1 of the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 19967;

or a driving licence recognised as equivalent;.”.

(2)

For sub-paragraph (2)(b) substitute—

“(b)

save for the purposes of regulation 5A(2A), a reference to a category of relevant vehicle includes references to its sub-categories as defined—

(i)

in relation to Great Britain, in Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the Driving Licences Regulations; and

(ii)

in relation to Northern Ireland, in Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996.”.

4.

(1)

Regulation 3 (persons to whom these regulations apply) is amended as follows.

(2)

In sub-paragraph (2)(b)—

(a)

at the end of paragraph (iii) omit “or”;

(b)

at the end of paragraph (iv) insert “or”; and

(c)

after paragraph (iv) insert—

“(v)

the prison service;”.

(3)

In regulation 3(3)(b)8 for “50” substitute “100”.

5.

In regulation 5A9, in the table at the end of sub-paragraph (2A)(c)10 omit the last requirement specified in column (1) and the corresponding entries in column (2).

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Transport

Andrew Jones
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
Department for Transport
EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Vehicle Drivers (Certificates of Professional Competence) Regulations 2007 (the “2007 Regulations”). The 2007 Regulations impose a requirement on drivers of lorries, buses and coaches to obtain a qualification called a driver “Certificate of Professional Competence” (“CPC”), and undergo 35 hours of training every 5 years.

Regulation 3(2)(a) removes the definition of “the Driving Licences Directive”, as the directive referred to (the Second Driving Licences Directive) has been repealed.

Regulation 3(2)(b) inserts a definition of “prison service”.

Regulation 3(2)(c) updates the definition of “relevant vehicle” by replacing the reference to the repealed Driving Licences Directive with a reference to the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1999 for Great Britain and to the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 for Northern Ireland.

Regulation 3(3) updates the references to subcategories of vehicles by replacing the reference to the repealed Driving Licences Directive with a reference to the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations 1999 for Great Britain and to the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 for Northern Ireland.

Regulation 4(2) adds to the exemptions set out in regulation 3(2)(b) an exemption for any person driving a vehicle which is used by, or under the control of, the prison service.

Regulation 4(3) amends the exemption set out in regulation 3(3)(b) to extend the radius within which an empty vehicle can be driven from the driver’s base without the driver having to obtain a CPC. The radius is extended from 50 kilometres to 100 kilometres.

Regulation 5 removes the requirement for persons undertaking their practical CPC test in a category C (lorry), or C+E (lorry and trailer), vehicle for it to have eight or more forward gear ratios.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen. An Explanatory Memorandum is published alongside the instrument on www.legislation.gov.uk.