Newslink February
Motor Schools Association; driver training and testing; road safety
Motor Schools Association; driver training and testing; road safety
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
msagb.com<br />
<strong>Newslink</strong><br />
The Voice of MSA GB<br />
Issue 373 • <strong>February</strong> 2024<br />
Priced off<br />
the road?<br />
Concern as soaring insurance<br />
premiums force young<br />
people to ditch their<br />
dream of driving own car<br />
Let’s get back<br />
to meeting<br />
face-to-face...<br />
MSA GB<br />
Conference<br />
Early bird booking discount<br />
extended until <strong>February</strong> 23!<br />
Day tickets<br />
£49<br />
from just<br />
See pg 20 for more details<br />
We work for all Driver Trainers. Want to join? SAVE £25 – see pg 39 for special offer
msagb.com<br />
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
Here comes the crunch<br />
Colin Lilly<br />
Editor,<br />
<strong>Newslink</strong><br />
If you recall my editorial from the January<br />
issue, in which I reimagined the old adage<br />
about what is providing the light at the end of<br />
the tunnel... well, the timetable has been<br />
announced and the express is on its way.<br />
The PCS (Public and Commercial Services)<br />
union has announced the days when its<br />
members at the DVSA will strike as part of the<br />
industrial action voted for by its members.<br />
Thursday 8th and Friday 9th <strong>February</strong> are<br />
the strike dates for examiners and customer<br />
service centre agents. On the 10th and 11th,<br />
Saturday and Sunday, members of DVSA staff<br />
contracted to work weekends will also strike.<br />
This could result in the loss of as many as<br />
8-10,000 driving test slots.<br />
When announcing the strikes the PCS union<br />
General Secretary Mark Serwotka described<br />
plans by Mark Harper, Secretary of State for<br />
Transport, to reduce the driving test backlog<br />
as “flawed”. The union added that the plans<br />
posed significant safety challenges for the<br />
examiners and the candidates. They will also<br />
erode the terms and conditions of examiners.<br />
Mark Serwotka said: “Our members are<br />
already working their hardest to clear the<br />
backlog, but they need extra resources, extra<br />
examiners, not instructions from Mark Harper.<br />
“They want to maintain the high standards<br />
they are used to delivering but they’re unable<br />
to do that if they’re expected to work longer<br />
and longer hours.<br />
“If Mark Harper were serious about reducing<br />
the backlog, he would invest in DVSA,<br />
employing more examiners, not just expecting<br />
the existing ones to work harder.”<br />
Early Bird Discount<br />
extended. Just £49 for a<br />
day of quality CPD.<br />
See pg 20 for more<br />
details<br />
In response DVSA said it has been working<br />
with PCS regarding the working arrangements<br />
for examiners and L-test service staff. It has<br />
made an offer to PCS to end the dispute but<br />
this has been rejected.<br />
We are unable to confirm what level of<br />
impact the industrial action might have on our<br />
services. Not all DVSA staff are PCS members,<br />
and even if they are, they might choose not to<br />
strike. So,we will not know which staff are<br />
participating in strike action until it takes place.<br />
As always, the DVSA will attempt to contact<br />
the candidates whose test has been affected,<br />
either directly or through the contact details<br />
provided. If they have not been contacted,<br />
they should attend as normal.<br />
If candidates arrive for their appointment to<br />
find their test cancelled, out of pocket<br />
expenses can be claimed.<br />
Some driving tests will be rescheduled<br />
ahead of the strikes but any cancelled at short<br />
notice will be allocated to the next available<br />
date.<br />
The possible effect on the customer service<br />
centre is difficult to predict, but enquiries may<br />
take longer than normal to answer. Some<br />
service will be available between 8am and<br />
4pm on 8th and 9th <strong>February</strong>.<br />
In the release the DVSA said that the<br />
customers expect a seven day per week<br />
service and as a publicly funded service, the<br />
DVSA feels obliged to provide this.<br />
How long will it be before the public expect<br />
evening testing as standard, or, dread the<br />
thought, 24/7 tests?<br />
As providers of a service, we need to make it<br />
clear the hours we are willing to work and at<br />
what price. It is amazingly easy to be dragged<br />
into a constant cycle of work, which is harmful<br />
to the well-being.<br />
More on the strike action: see pg 6<br />
MSA GB Annual Conference 2024:<br />
Book NOW<br />
Welcome to your<br />
digital, interactive<br />
<strong>Newslink</strong><br />
See a pale blue box in any article or<br />
on an advert? It it contains a web<br />
address or email, it’s interactive. Just<br />
click and it will take you to the<br />
appropriate web page or email so you<br />
can find more details easier.<br />
You’ll also find these panels across<br />
the magazine: just click for more<br />
information on any given subject.<br />
To get the<br />
full story,<br />
click here<br />
How to access this<br />
magazine<br />
You can read <strong>Newslink</strong> in three ways:<br />
Go online and read the interactive<br />
magazine on the Yumpu website; or,<br />
if you would like to read it when you<br />
don’t have a mobile signal or WiFi,<br />
you can download the magazine to<br />
your tablet, PC or phone to read at<br />
your leisure. Alternatively, a pdf can<br />
be found on the MSA GB website, at<br />
www.msagb.com<br />
COVER STORY<br />
This is not a test: a<br />
live insurance<br />
premium quote<br />
offered to a new<br />
driver. Are the<br />
insurers pricing<br />
young people out of motoring?<br />
See pg 12<br />
Follow the link<br />
MSA GB sends<br />
you to access<br />
<strong>Newslink</strong>,<br />
and then just<br />
click Download<br />
(circled above)<br />
to save a copy<br />
on your device<br />
<strong>Newslink</strong><br />
The Voice of MSA GB<br />
Issue 373 • <strong>February</strong> 2024<br />
Priced off<br />
the road?<br />
Concern as soaring insurance<br />
premiums force young<br />
people to ditch their<br />
dream of driving own car<br />
Let’s get back<br />
to meeting<br />
face-to face .<br />
MSA GB<br />
Conference<br />
Early bird booking discount<br />
extended until <strong>February</strong> 23!<br />
Day tickets<br />
from just<br />
See pg 20 for more details<br />
£49<br />
We work for a l Driver Trainers. Want to join? SAVE £25 – see pg 39 for special offer<br />
PLUS<br />
Join us at the MSA GB Conference 2024.<br />
See pg 20-21 for details<br />
NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024 03
Contents<br />
06<br />
28<br />
08<br />
17<br />
11<br />
Here we go again... the examiners<br />
are downing tools<br />
Driving examiners are going out on strike<br />
again this month, at a loss of around<br />
8-10,000 driving tests – pg 6<br />
Public health body calls for<br />
graduated licensing<br />
Welsh body wants new drivers restricted<br />
over who they can drive with, and when, in<br />
a bid to cut fatalities – pg 8<br />
One step forward... one step back<br />
as L-tests go begging<br />
Finally we have an answer to the question<br />
as to how many L-tests go unused... and<br />
it’s more than you think – pg 10<br />
The leafy suburbs are getting cross<br />
with ADIs - this time, Bromley<br />
More tutting and frowning as ADIs take<br />
their pupils too close to posh houses on<br />
tree-lined roads... – pg 14<br />
Conference<br />
news update<br />
20<br />
It’s time to make CPD compulsory,<br />
says one ADI advocate<br />
Instructors need to see the benefits of CPD<br />
– and the best way to convince them is by<br />
making it mandatory, says one ADI – pg 18<br />
Driver behaviour - and the<br />
wheel of change<br />
There’s some powerful psychology lurking<br />
behind changing the way drivers think,<br />
says Steve Garrod – pg 28<br />
<strong>Newslink</strong><br />
The Voice of MSA GB<br />
The Motor Schools Association<br />
of Great Britain Ltd<br />
Head Office:<br />
Peershaws,<br />
Berewyk Hall Court,<br />
White Colne, Colchester,<br />
Essex CO6 2QB<br />
T: 01787 221020<br />
E: info@msagb.com<br />
<strong>Newslink</strong> is published monthly on behalf of the MSA GB<br />
and distributed to members and selected recently<br />
qualified ADIs throughout Great Britain by:<br />
Chamber Media Services,<br />
4 Hilton Road, Bramhall, Stockport,<br />
Cheshire SK7 3AG<br />
Editorial/Production: Rob Beswick<br />
e: rob@chambermediaservices.co.uk<br />
t: 0161 426 7957<br />
Advertising sales: Colin Regan<br />
e: colinregan001@yahoo.co.uk<br />
t: 01942 537959 / 07871 444922<br />
Views expressed in <strong>Newslink</strong> are not necessarily those<br />
of the MSA GB or the publishers.<br />
Although every effort is made<br />
to ensure the accuracy of<br />
material contained within<br />
this publication, neither MSA<br />
GB nor the publishers can<br />
accept any responsibility for<br />
the veracity of claims made<br />
by contributors in either<br />
advertising or editorial content.<br />
©2023 The Motor Schools<br />
Association of Great Britain<br />
Ltd. Reproducing in whole<br />
or part is forbidden without<br />
express permission of the<br />
editor.<br />
04 NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
MSA GB Board<br />
of Management<br />
National Chairman &<br />
Area 2 - East Coast Chair<br />
Mike Yeomans<br />
7 Oak Avenue, Elloughton,<br />
Brough HU15 1LA<br />
T: 07772 757529<br />
E: mike.yeomans@msagb.com<br />
AREA 1<br />
Vice Chairman<br />
Peter Harvey MBE<br />
T: 01505 814823<br />
E: peter.harveymbe@msagb.com<br />
Area 1 – Scotland &<br />
Northern Ireland<br />
Chair: Steven Porter<br />
18 Heron Place, Johnstone<br />
PA5 0RW<br />
T: 01505 345372 or<br />
07747 600672<br />
E: steven.porter@msagb.com<br />
Area 3 – London & South East<br />
Chair: Tom Kwok<br />
52B Sutton Road, Muswell Hill,<br />
London N10 1HE<br />
07956 269922<br />
E: tom.kwok@msagb.com<br />
How MSA GB<br />
is organised, in<br />
four AREAS<br />
AREA 4<br />
AREA 2<br />
AREA 3<br />
Area 4 – West Coast & Wales<br />
Chair: Arthur Mynott<br />
9 Hagleys Green, Crowcombe,<br />
Taunton TA4 4AH<br />
T: 01984 618858<br />
E: arthur.mynott@msagb.com<br />
Keep in touch<br />
If you have updated your address, telephone numbers or<br />
changed your email address recently, please let us know<br />
at head office by emailing us with your new details and<br />
membership number to info@msagb.com.<br />
If you can’t find your membership number, give us a ring<br />
on 01787 221020.<br />
Follow MSA GB on social media<br />
Just click on the icon to go<br />
through to the relevant site<br />
NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024 05
News<br />
New numbers<br />
for 68 DTCS<br />
Members should note that the contact<br />
telephone numbers for 68 DVSA driving test<br />
centres (DTCs) have changed. The old<br />
number will no longer be active so please<br />
update your contact details.<br />
The affected DTCs are in the Yorkshire,<br />
North-West, North-East, the Midlands,<br />
South-East & London, South-West regions,<br />
and Scotland and Wales.<br />
DTC telephone numbers are given to<br />
candidates so they can contact their local<br />
driving test centre if there is bad weather on<br />
the day of their test.<br />
The new contact numbers start with an<br />
020 code, which appear as a London number.<br />
However, you will be connected directly to<br />
your local DTC, as usual. The numbers are not<br />
routed through DVSA’s contact centre.<br />
Let your pupils know<br />
DVSA has contacted candidates who have<br />
a test booked at the 68 DTCs to let them<br />
know the new number they should use in the<br />
event of bad weather. If you have booked a<br />
test on behalf of your pupil, please let them<br />
know about the change in contact number.<br />
Further changes<br />
DVSA has invested in VOiP technology<br />
because it allows calls to be made using a<br />
broadband internet connection instead of a<br />
regular landline.<br />
It will introduce this technology to all DTCs<br />
over the next few months. They will be<br />
contacting you to confirm the new numbers<br />
in due course.<br />
This will improve the quality of the calls to<br />
DVSA.<br />
Click here for the full<br />
list of new numbers<br />
Pavement ban comes in<br />
Members are reminded that the anticipated<br />
ban on pavement parking in Edinburgh has<br />
comes into affect, with motorists facing a<br />
£100 fine. Edinburgh is the first city in<br />
Scotland to implement the ban, but won’t be<br />
the last.<br />
The rules are designed to protect<br />
pedestrians, especially people in wheelchairs<br />
and those pushing buggies. However,<br />
concern has been raised on whether it could<br />
cause access difficulties for emergency<br />
service and public utility vehicles.<br />
It’s ‘all out’ again as DVSA and<br />
PCS refuse to agree terms<br />
As reported in the January issue, the ballot on<br />
industrial action by examiners, organised by<br />
the Public and Commercial Services Union<br />
(PCS) before Christmas, came down in favour<br />
of further strikes by driving examiners.<br />
This was the last news ADis wanted to<br />
hear, and MSA GB has voiced its frustration<br />
over this turn of events to the DVSA.<br />
The PCS has served DVSA notice of strike<br />
action on:<br />
n 8 and 9 <strong>February</strong>. This will involve all PCS<br />
members in DVSA including driving<br />
examiners and customer service centre<br />
agents<br />
n 10 and 11 <strong>February</strong> . This will involve any<br />
PCS members in the DVSA who are<br />
contracted to work weekends. This will also<br />
involve examiners where weekend testing is<br />
performed.<br />
The DVSA said its customer service centre<br />
might be affected by the strike action, and it<br />
may take longer than usual to answer your<br />
query. The customer service centre will be<br />
open from 8am to 4pm on 8 and 9 <strong>February</strong>.<br />
It must be reiterated that if your pupils<br />
have a test scheduled for the days set out<br />
above, they must attend unless they are told<br />
directly by the DVSA not to. Not all examiners<br />
are members of the PCS, and not all PCS<br />
members will strike, so there is a chance the<br />
impact will be less than you may imagine.<br />
However, MSA GB believes we could see as<br />
many as 8-10,000 L-tests lost.<br />
The DVSA comment: “We have been<br />
working with PCS to address concerns raised<br />
about the working arrangements for driving<br />
examiners and the driving test service<br />
provided by DVSA. We have made an offer to<br />
PCS to end the dispute, which has been<br />
rejected.<br />
“It is disappointing that strike action will<br />
now go ahead. This will mean the hard work<br />
and commitment from colleagues in DVSA to<br />
reduce driving test waiting times will be<br />
undone, and have a negative impact on the<br />
services we offer our customers.”<br />
In response the PCS said: “This dispute is in<br />
connection with the DVSA’s ‘driver services<br />
recovery programme’. This is a politically<br />
driven programme which seeks to restore the<br />
national average waiting time for L-tests to<br />
seven weeks.<br />
“However, the programme poses<br />
significant safety risks to test candidates and<br />
examiners, as well as an erosion of staff’s<br />
terms and conditions. It fails to address the<br />
root causes of the backlog and requires staff<br />
to deliver an additional 150,000 tests on top<br />
of their normal workloads.<br />
“This is despite DVSA’s own admission that<br />
even 150,000 additional driving tests will still<br />
result in missing the seven-week target.<br />
“Despite PCS’s best efforts, an acceptable<br />
agreement has not been reached through<br />
dispute resolution negotiation and our<br />
reasonable demands have not been met.”<br />
PCS General Secretary, Mark Serwotka,<br />
added: “The actions of DVSA management<br />
are reckless, prioritising business need over<br />
the health, safety and welfare of our<br />
members while attempting to attack their<br />
terms and conditions.<br />
“The actions taken by the agency show a<br />
total disregard for our members upon whom<br />
they rely to keep the tests operating.<br />
“Our members want to support a reduction<br />
in the driving test waiting times, while<br />
maintaining high standards and the integrity<br />
of the services they deliver, but are not<br />
prepared to do so at a detrimental cost to<br />
their health and safety nor their terms and<br />
conditions.<br />
“This strike action is avoidable and DVSA<br />
must now act to table a proposal that<br />
adequately addresses the concerns raised<br />
and meets the PCS demands.”<br />
MSA GB national vice chairman Peter<br />
Harvey said: “Both parties appear unwilling to<br />
find a compromise to this dispute, which is<br />
both worrying and frustrating. If none can be<br />
found, I assume more strike dates will be<br />
announced in March and April, and more<br />
progress in reducing L-test waiting times will<br />
be lost. Meanwhile, both parties will stay sat<br />
on top of their ivory towers preaching the<br />
righteouness of their cause while diverting<br />
their eyes from the innocent victims in this<br />
row, ADIs and their pupils.”<br />
06 NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
CPD planning for 2024?<br />
We know that it is a really busy time of the<br />
year, but it’s important to find time to<br />
continue to develop your skills.<br />
Continuing professional development<br />
(CPD) is any development activity that<br />
has helped you:<br />
n learn something new<br />
n refresh your existing knowledge<br />
n improve your skills<br />
n keep up-to-date with the latest<br />
developments<br />
When you’re planning your CPD you<br />
should consider:<br />
n which existing skills that you want to<br />
improve<br />
n new skills that will help you in your<br />
current role or develop you in areas you’re<br />
interested in<br />
To help you to do this you can:<br />
n check and see if your local or national<br />
driving instructor association is holding<br />
any free or paid for meetings, events or<br />
webinars and get them booked and added<br />
into your calendar<br />
n book training courses - either online<br />
or in person<br />
n work with a registered trainer to<br />
improve your driver training skills<br />
n watch videos, listened to podcasts or<br />
read blog posts, magazines and books<br />
n keep an eye out for blog post and<br />
webinars from DVSA.<br />
Some of the topics you might like to<br />
focus on include: driving laws, rules and<br />
techniques; personal growth and<br />
wellbeing; finance and business<br />
management; or teaching specific groups,<br />
such as people with disabilities, learning<br />
difficulties and neurodiversity.<br />
One way to get a lot of this covered is by<br />
attending the MSA GB Conference 2024.<br />
See pg 20-21 for more details.<br />
n Time to make CPD compulsory:<br />
One ADI’s view, see pg 18<br />
MSA GB payment<br />
hotline<br />
Dear MSA GB member<br />
and colleague,<br />
While being a driving<br />
instructor does offer<br />
incredible flexibility, we<br />
understand that it can<br />
leave you time poor for<br />
those everyday admin jobs. So, to help make<br />
things easier when paying for your membership or<br />
booking tickets for our calendar of events, we’ve<br />
set up a dedicated payment line:<br />
01787 221299.<br />
This also means that our membership team are<br />
more available for answering member queries and<br />
resolving any issues you may be experiencing.<br />
Our membership team can still be contacted on:<br />
01787 221020.<br />
We look forward to taking your call.<br />
NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024 07
News<br />
Wales’ public health body calls<br />
for GDL to protect new drivers<br />
Public Health Wales has stepped out of its<br />
usual area of expertise by calling for the<br />
introduction of graduated driver licensing<br />
(GDL), which would, it said, save lives.<br />
Its call comes in a response to a Welsh<br />
Government consultation paper on a new<br />
road safety strategy. Public Health Wales said<br />
GDL could be designed to allow new drivers<br />
to gain experience and skills gradually over<br />
time in low-risk environments.<br />
Among its suggestions are for newly<br />
qualified drivers under the age of 25 not to<br />
give lifts to other young people, and not drive<br />
late at night.<br />
It also wants a drink-drive limit of 20mg<br />
per 100ml of blood – the equivalent of a<br />
half-pint of beer/small glass of wine.<br />
Public Health Wales has also called for<br />
Wales to adopt a road safety strategy that<br />
focuses on public health, addresses<br />
inequalities in the harms that result from road<br />
traffic, and prioritises walking, cycling and<br />
public transport over driving.<br />
Dr Sarah Jones, a consultant in<br />
environmental public health at Public Health<br />
Wales, said: “Historically, our road network<br />
has been built with the prioritisation of<br />
private motor vehicle users in mind, but it is<br />
becoming increasingly clear that this is not an<br />
approach that is fit for the future.<br />
“A modal shift is required to encourage<br />
more people to use transport options such as<br />
walking, cycling, or public transport, as an<br />
alternative to the car. Only then can Wales<br />
hope to develop a road system that supports<br />
decarbonisation efforts that will reduce air<br />
pollution and address the climate emergency,<br />
as well as inequalities in access.<br />
“A road safety strategy is a public health<br />
strategy, and all elements of the new<br />
strategy should be explicitly considered in<br />
terms of how they may be expected to<br />
protect, improve or harm health.”<br />
Public Health Wales also recommends that<br />
pedestrian crossing wait times should be cut<br />
and time allowed to cross extended.<br />
Other specific policy proposals included<br />
ensuring that cycling infrastructure should be<br />
clearly separated from other motor vehicles<br />
and that ‘paint only’ lanes are not acceptable.<br />
MSA GB said: “We do have a measure of<br />
GDL in place at the moment, and the issue of<br />
restricting new drivers has been much<br />
debated in recent years.<br />
“However, a continual criticism of the<br />
restrictions suggested by Public Health<br />
Wales is that bans on lifts by new drivers<br />
would be very difficult to enforce, night-time<br />
driving bans would stop young people<br />
accessing jobs in the night-time economy,<br />
and there is little evidence that drink-driving<br />
is a big problem among the young: typical<br />
culprits are middle-aged men, so why target<br />
youngsters with this measure?<br />
“Public Health Wales hasn’t come up with<br />
the right answers to the problem.”<br />
Motorists falling into line with<br />
new lower limit, researchers say<br />
Analysis has shown that the Welsh motoring<br />
public has quickly fallen into line with new<br />
rules on speed limits throughout the country.<br />
On September 17, the default limit on most<br />
roads in Wales became 20mph, and research<br />
by Agilysis has found that it has had an<br />
immediate effect, with traffic speeds falling<br />
by 2.4mph since the lower limit’s introduction.<br />
Agilysis analysed speeds on nearly 500km<br />
of roads in 10 Welsh towns and cities. It<br />
covers the three-month period postintroduction<br />
on September 17, 2023.<br />
The report found that average speeds on all<br />
roads affected are down by 2.4mph compared<br />
to pre-change levels.<br />
It builds on previous analysis, which<br />
showed there was a 2.9mph drop in speeds in<br />
the immediate aftermath of the change.<br />
Agilysis says the figures show that while<br />
there has been a small increase in speeds<br />
since the initial survey, compliance with the<br />
new 20mph limits is “generally good and<br />
shows a general acceptance of the new limit<br />
among drivers”.<br />
The report also shows there are slight<br />
variations across the ten towns and cities<br />
included in the analysis, with Bangor<br />
experiencing the most significant reduction<br />
in average speeds (-3.2mph) and Merthyr<br />
Tydfil displaying the smallest change<br />
(-1.3mph).<br />
Just over half (52.9%) of all analysed<br />
journeys were driven above the 20mph<br />
speed limit, while 17.9% were driven above<br />
the enforcement threshold of 26mph.<br />
A total of 5.4% of journeys were driven at<br />
speeds above the threshold for a court<br />
summons.<br />
The Welsh Government recently confirmed<br />
the enforcement of 20mph speed limits will<br />
begin in January, following an initial<br />
adjustment period. Police will still be able to<br />
try education of speeders first, however,<br />
before prosecution takes place.<br />
But Agilysis says introducing stronger<br />
speed enforcement measures will be a crucial<br />
next step towards achieving greater<br />
compliance across the road network.<br />
08 NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
Pothole plague hits 80 motorists a day says RAC<br />
It will come as no surprise to ADIs that<br />
Britain’s ‘pothole plague’ is getting worse –<br />
but new figures released by the RAC has<br />
highlighted just how many motorists it<br />
affects every year.<br />
In 2023 the RAC received call-outs to<br />
pothole-related breakdowns nearly 30,000<br />
times. That’s equivalent to 80 breakdowns a<br />
day and up a third on 2022. The fourth<br />
quarter of 2023 saw 5,153 breakdowns<br />
caused by potholes, the highest for any<br />
October to December period since 2017.<br />
Faults included broken suspension springs,<br />
damaged shocks and distorted wheels.<br />
The RAC says the problem will be getting<br />
worse at the moment as we are in the middle<br />
of ‘pothole season’ – January to March –<br />
when water makes its way into cracks in the<br />
road, freezes and expands, causing surfaces<br />
to deteriorate even more.<br />
Its Pothole Index, which has tracked the<br />
condition of Britain’s roads since 2006, now<br />
stands at 1.70, up from 1.62 in 2022. While<br />
this is nowhere near the all-time high of 3.5<br />
recorded in Q1 2010, at 1.7 the index suggests<br />
drivers are more than one-and-a-half times<br />
as likely to experience pothole damage as<br />
they were 15 years ago.<br />
Simon Williams, RAC head of policy, said:<br />
“The cracks in Britain’s road maintenance<br />
system have once again been embarrassingly<br />
exposed. Potholes are so much more than an<br />
irritation – they are a very serious danger to<br />
all road users which we fear is getting worse.<br />
“Local councils have been cash-strapped<br />
for years due to lower road maintenance<br />
budgets, causing roads across the country to<br />
fall into disrepair and leaving drivers fighting<br />
for compensation when their vehicles are<br />
inevitably damaged.<br />
“Fortunately, the Government has<br />
committed an extra £8.3bn of funding to local<br />
councils over the next 11 years, which we<br />
hope will give squeezed authorities some<br />
certainty of cash to help them plan<br />
consistent longer-term maintenance.<br />
“Now we urge the DfT to lay out clear<br />
guidance as to how this money should be<br />
best used so that councils can actually<br />
improve their roads for the future.”<br />
However, the Local Government<br />
Association admitted that the extra cash “is<br />
not going to fully fix the problem”, with a<br />
number of commentators describing the<br />
cash as a ‘drop in the ocean’. One road<br />
maintenance expert said, “it will take more<br />
than the money put up by Government to<br />
sort out the UK’s crumbling roads. You would<br />
probably need to put a zero on the end of that<br />
figure to do that.”<br />
NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024 09
News<br />
The truth is out there...<br />
DVSA reveals<br />
number of<br />
L-tests that<br />
go begging<br />
Regular readers will be aware that in recent<br />
issues, <strong>Newslink</strong> has been trying to get to the<br />
bottom of whether L-tests are going to<br />
waste because they are not being conducted,<br />
for whatever reason.<br />
We all know that there are not enough test<br />
slots available, and waiting times are lengthy<br />
as a result. But is the system operating<br />
efficiently, in that, are any L-tests going<br />
unused?<br />
To find out, we made a Freedom of<br />
Information request (FoI) in November, with<br />
the answer arriving in December and<br />
published in our January issue.<br />
That found that in the period November 6<br />
to December 3 (four weeks) there were just<br />
2,879 unallocated tests. By our maths, that’s<br />
about three per cent of all tests in the system.<br />
However, this did not quite get to the heart<br />
of our query: we didn’t want to know how<br />
many were unallocated (ie, a test slot without<br />
a candidate’s name next to it); we wanted to<br />
know how many tests went unused - ie,<br />
either without a candidate being offered the<br />
slot, or where candidates failed to turn up, or<br />
had their test cancelled for some other<br />
reason, such as examiner short-notice<br />
In December’s <strong>Newslink</strong>, one of our regular<br />
contributors made what to many was a point<br />
that chimed with them: that often they were<br />
seeing evidence of L-test ‘no shows’ in their<br />
local driving test centres, with examiners sat<br />
patiently waiting for candidates to arrive,<br />
only for them to fail to turn up for their test.<br />
“I’ve been in my test centre, where there<br />
are seven examiners, and seen only five go<br />
out on test,” was the comment. “Was their<br />
inactivity as a result of no shows?”<br />
Given the current state of the L-test<br />
waiting times, any unused L-tests would be a<br />
crying shame.<br />
The finger of blame for this – if it were a<br />
major problem – was pointed at the modern<br />
culture of learners grabbing L-tests via<br />
booking websites and bots, without checking<br />
with their ADI first, and simply not turning up<br />
on the day when they discovered that they<br />
were nowhere near test ready, or that their<br />
instructor was not available on that day.<br />
Therefore, the question was asked, was<br />
this really a widespread problem, and if so,<br />
was it something the DVSA could do more to<br />
tackle, perhaps with a promotional campaign<br />
highlighting the need to book tests only<br />
when ready – and to make sure if they have a<br />
test, they attend.<br />
Fundamentally, was this a problem<br />
indicative of how the testing system was<br />
working at present, with lots of missed and<br />
wasted tests, or was it a rare occurrence?<br />
sickness/absenteeism.<br />
To get to the bottom of whether our<br />
So we submitted a second contributor FOI: had experienced ‘I wanted isolated to case<br />
of examiner idleness or administration time,<br />
know how much total spare or whether capacity there was a problem there of unused<br />
test slots across the country which was<br />
was in the L-test booking<br />
exacerbating<br />
system,<br />
the L-test<br />
ie,<br />
waiting<br />
the<br />
times, we<br />
decided to challenge the DVSA. An FOI<br />
request was clearly needed to answer the<br />
number of car driving test<br />
question,<br />
slots<br />
so at<br />
not<br />
the end<br />
booked<br />
of November<br />
<strong>Newslink</strong> asked the following of the DVSA:<br />
which are available, plus the Could number you tell me how of many L-test slots<br />
were not taken up in the past four weeks? In<br />
L-test slots that were not other used words, (but for clarity, had how much spare/<br />
wasted capacity was there in the L-test<br />
been booked).<br />
system this month?<br />
Unfortunately, as anyone who has ever<br />
attempted an FOI will know, the devil lies in<br />
“Therefore, can I ask you to tell me how<br />
getting your terminology correct and being<br />
many L-test slots were not used, including all<br />
which were not booked in the first place, plus<br />
all those that, for whatever reason (including<br />
examiner sickness, industrial action, internal<br />
problems causing the need to cancel a test<br />
and candidates’ failure to attend), were<br />
unused for the period 06/11/2023 -<br />
03/12/2023.”<br />
The response was disheartening to begin<br />
with. As the data requested “will be published<br />
at some point in the future”, the DVSA is not<br />
bound to release the figures. “We routinely<br />
publish data about car test cancellations that<br />
occurred due to leave, disputes, acts of<br />
nature, medical absences and the pandemic.<br />
very precise with the question so you extract<br />
the data you are looking for. From the reply<br />
received it was clear our question didn’t hit<br />
the nail on the head this time - as can be seen<br />
by the answer. However, it did reveal an<br />
interesting statistic.<br />
The DVSA replied:<br />
There were only 2,879 L-test slots NOT<br />
taken up in the period from 06-11-2023 to<br />
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
The question of the missing candidate:<br />
Are L-test slots going to waste, or is<br />
the system working efficiently?<br />
03/12/2023.<br />
This information is published So I am after the in total arrears,” number of ‘lost’ the<br />
Note, L-test slots. In other words, every tests for the period in question.<br />
DVSA said.<br />
Do you think we’ll get to the bottom of how<br />
many tests weren’t taken up?<br />
“This information is Hopefully exempt - and if we from do, we’ll definitely let<br />
you know.<br />
disclosure under section<br />
However,<br />
22(1)<br />
the answer<br />
(information<br />
does tell us one thing:<br />
the L-test system is pretty efficient, in that<br />
Therefore, a new request has gone in:<br />
virtually every test slot is allocated. After all,<br />
Sir/Madam<br />
intended for future publication)<br />
on a total testing regime<br />
of<br />
of around<br />
the<br />
1.7<br />
FoIA,<br />
million<br />
Many thanks for your reply to my FOI<br />
tests, 2,879 equates to just two per cent of<br />
which states that the ‘unused’ information capacity. is held by<br />
However, the answer received didn’t quite Even the harshest critic would accept that<br />
the public authority with a booking a system view that allocates to its 98 per cent<br />
I was looking for the total spare capacity in of its available slots is doing well, particularly<br />
publication at some future when those slots date. are scattered We over a wide<br />
geographical area.<br />
So that’s one good point - even if it wasn’t<br />
anticipate that this will be in April 2024.”<br />
quite the one we were looking for!<br />
No luck, then... but wait, a glimmer...<br />
The DVSA went on to say: “We can<br />
however provide you with the number of<br />
tests lost as available tests were not booked<br />
and due to other cancellation reasons that<br />
are not published. This was 10,730. ’<br />
So, in answer to the question, just short of<br />
11,000 tests went begging from November<br />
6-December 3. If this figure were to be<br />
extrapolated across the whole year, it would<br />
mean 140,000 tests are being lost every<br />
year, to examiner sickness, no shows and<br />
those tests that went unallocated.<br />
You could not expect any system to be<br />
completely watertight, but to lose 140,000<br />
tests a year does seem rather leaky.<br />
Two points to consider. First, the above<br />
figure DOES NOT include any tests lost to<br />
industrial action, as there were no strikes<br />
held in the period under consideration.<br />
Therefore the number of tests unused in, say<br />
<strong>February</strong>, could be far higher, as industrial<br />
action takes its toll again.<br />
Two, you remember all that fuss about<br />
dragging in DVSA senior management to run<br />
L-tests? How ‘warrant card’ holding staff<br />
were being returned to the frontline in a noble<br />
effort to reduce L-test waiting times?<br />
Well, that contribution will add an extra....<br />
... 140,000 L-tests to the roster, according<br />
to the DVSA. Exactly the same number of<br />
being losts being lost/going unallocated!<br />
NEWSLINK n JANUARY 2024 09<br />
10 NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024<br />
03-12-2023.<br />
test was booked apart from 2,879. But it does<br />
not tell us what we wanted to know: how<br />
many test slots were not used - whether<br />
because they were never booked (the 2,879<br />
mentioned here) or because the examiner<br />
was absent, or the candidate failed to show.<br />
request, as referenced above.<br />
deliver the information I required.<br />
the L-test booking system, ie, the number of<br />
car driving test slots not booked which are<br />
available, plus the number of L-test slots<br />
that were not used (but had been booked).<br />
Therefore, can I ask you to tell me how<br />
many L-test slots were not used, including all<br />
which were not booked in the first place, plus<br />
all those that, for whatever reason (including<br />
examiner sickness, industrial action, internal<br />
problems causing the need to cancel a test<br />
and candidates’ failure to attend), were<br />
unused for the period 06/11/2023 -
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
Scottish Government launches new campaign to<br />
address issues of older drivers’ eyesight<br />
The Scottish Government and Road Safety<br />
Scotland have joined forces to encourage<br />
older drivers to have their eyesight checked<br />
so they can continue driving safely.<br />
Research shows that the number of<br />
drivers over the age of 60 killed or seriously<br />
injured in a car crash is increasing, and they<br />
now amount to 29% of all KSI victims.<br />
With that in mind, the Fitness to Drive<br />
campaign highlights that eyesight can affect<br />
the ability of older drivers.<br />
It calls for anyone in that age +60<br />
demographic to have their eyes examined<br />
regularly, or as soon as they notice a change.<br />
It is common for drivers to adapt their<br />
driving behaviour as they get older, for<br />
example, by not driving at night or on busier<br />
roads to avoid the glare from oncoming<br />
traffic, or by driving shorter distances. These<br />
adaptations often happen gradually and can<br />
be a sign of deteriorating vision.<br />
Janet Pooley, chief optometric adviser at<br />
the Scottish Government, said: “As we get<br />
older, we can experience changes to our<br />
eyesight, including blurred vision, a reduced<br />
visual field and less accuracy when it comes<br />
to judging distances, which impact our ability<br />
to drive safely.<br />
“The best way to make sure your eyes are<br />
healthy is to have them examined regularly<br />
and to visit your local optometrist if you<br />
notice any problems with your eyesight.<br />
“As well as detecting changes in your<br />
eyesight, an NHS eye examination can pick up<br />
age-related eye conditions like cataracts and<br />
glaucoma, and it can identify and help prevent<br />
other health conditions like blood issues and<br />
diabetes, which can also affect driving.”<br />
The campaign reminds drivers that<br />
changes in eyesight don’t have to mean<br />
giving up driving and that a local optometrist<br />
can often correct any difficulties drivers have<br />
simply by prescribing new glasses.<br />
Janet Pooley added: “In some cases your<br />
optometrist might advise that you require<br />
surgery to improve your vision if you have a<br />
condition like cataracts. Outstanding surgical<br />
results often enable people to continue to<br />
drive safely for many years.”<br />
In addition to eyesight, other age-related<br />
factors can also affect fitness to drive, such<br />
as high blood pressure, medication and<br />
slower reaction times.<br />
Drivers are encouraged to plan ahead for<br />
when they do choose to give up driving and<br />
consider alternatives for getting around<br />
without a car, including public transport and<br />
getting help from family members and<br />
friends.<br />
Fiona Hyslop, Scotland’s minister for<br />
transport, said: “Changes in our eyesight is<br />
something we’re all affected by as we get<br />
older, and with Scotland’s population<br />
continuing to age, it’s particularly important<br />
to ensure we all stay safe on the road. We’re<br />
encouraging everyone in this age group to get<br />
their eyes checked regularly to make sure<br />
they are fit to drive.”<br />
“As well as detecting changes in your eyesight, an NHS eye<br />
examination can pick up age-related eye conditions like<br />
cataracts and glaucoma, and it can identify and help prevent<br />
other health conditions like blood issues and diabetes, which<br />
can also affect driving.”<br />
Age Scotland’s Big Survey 2023 shows<br />
driving is the most common way to get<br />
around among over 60s, with 72% of<br />
respondents saying this is the mode of<br />
transportation they use most.<br />
Katherine Crawford, CEO of Age Scotland,<br />
said: “We know driving is hugely important to<br />
older people and plays a big part in their<br />
ability to stay active, mobile and independent.<br />
“This campaign is a good reminder for older<br />
drivers to get their eyes examined regularly<br />
or, if they notice a change in their eyesight, to<br />
make sure they have the best vision for<br />
driving safely.”<br />
The campaign will also address family and<br />
friends who may be initiating discussions<br />
about driving with their loved ones, which<br />
can be a sensitive subject.<br />
But the campaigners stressed that this is<br />
not a push to stop older people from driving.<br />
The Government added: “We know that<br />
having access to a car, and driving, is<br />
important for older people who wish to retain<br />
their independence.<br />
“This is particularly true for those who live<br />
in rural communities where they may not<br />
have easy access to public transport.<br />
“We know how important cars are to<br />
people – but we just want everyone to take<br />
simple steps to keep themselves safe.”<br />
NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024 11
News<br />
Soaring insurance costs risk killing<br />
young people’s driving dreams<br />
A concerned parent writes...<br />
Two stories connected to insurance caught<br />
my eye this month.<br />
The first was a report that 400,000 drivers<br />
have been caught driving without insurance<br />
over the past four years. The second was a<br />
claim that more young people were ‘fronting’<br />
after passing their driving test, to avoid<br />
sky-high insurance premiums.<br />
There was a third story... but more on that<br />
later.<br />
A little about the second one first. Fronting,<br />
for those who aren’t aware of the term, is<br />
where a parent adds their child on to their car<br />
insurance as a ‘named driver’, despite the fact<br />
that their the son or daughter will really be its<br />
main driver. In such cases the child should<br />
have insurance of their own.<br />
The Association of British Insurers (ABI)<br />
says a ‘main driver’ has to be the person who<br />
drives the car the majority of the time. A<br />
‘named driver’ can only be someone who<br />
uses the car less often than the main driver.<br />
If evidence of fronting is found – and if a<br />
big claim is being made, you can guarantee<br />
that the insurance company will be looking<br />
for clues – the policy would be invalidated,<br />
and those responsible would face criminal<br />
sanctions. They could also be added to the<br />
Insurance Fraud Register, which is shared<br />
with the industry and can impact taking out<br />
future policies.<br />
But a recent Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB)<br />
survey revealed that a quarter of 18-24<br />
-year-olds would find it acceptable to lie on<br />
an insurance application to save money -<br />
although many knew that fronting is illegal.<br />
“With prices rising, more young people will<br />
be tempted to front on their car insurance to<br />
save money, but fronting is never worth the<br />
risk,” Jon Radford at the IFB, said.<br />
The IFB said fraudulent insurance added<br />
costs to “all honest consumers’ premiums<br />
which is why we’re working closely with<br />
insurers to tackle the problem”.<br />
Fraud costs the industry around £1bn a<br />
year, according to the ABI.<br />
So who fronts up?<br />
The BBC report offered some clues as to<br />
why people would risk this. One 17-year-old<br />
from Leeds, who needed her car to get to<br />
college, was stunned when she was asked to<br />
part with thousands to insure the vehicle.<br />
Her mum Andrea told the BBC she had<br />
never heard of fronting before, but believes<br />
she and her daughter share the car equally.<br />
“We had no other option,” she said. “We<br />
did look at putting it in her name, we asked<br />
the question of the insurance company and<br />
this is what they came back with.”<br />
But while mum seemed unaware of the<br />
potential dangers of doing this, Lucy was not.<br />
“Obviously it’s a concern. Once I’ve done my<br />
A-levels my mum will be driving the car to<br />
work and I will have it on weekends, so she<br />
will be the main driver.<br />
“At the moment there’s not really anything<br />
I can do. It’s either that or I don’t drive.”<br />
She would like her own policy, but<br />
“Everyone’s in the same position. Being a<br />
named driver is the only way anyone can<br />
afford to do this.”<br />
According to the BBC, insurance for young<br />
drivers often outstrips the value of the cars<br />
typically driven by people who have just<br />
Left, a screenshot taken from<br />
a comparison site of actual<br />
quotes obtained for a<br />
newly-passed 22-year-old<br />
driver, based in north London<br />
and driving a 1.6 Honda Civic<br />
valued at £1,000.<br />
These are the CHEAPEST of<br />
16 quotes received.<br />
There was a blissful irony in<br />
that the last, and most<br />
expensive, at £10,772 was<br />
from an insurer called ‘Go<br />
Girl’.<br />
Not at that price, she won’t!<br />
passed their test. Really? More on that later...<br />
And so to the first story. While in the<br />
fronting story there is a suggestion that<br />
some people are not aware they are acting<br />
illegally, in the first story mentioned, they<br />
clearly are. iCompario submitted a Freedom<br />
of Information request to see how many<br />
motorists have been convicted of driving<br />
without insurance since 2019.<br />
It’s a lot. 400,000 in the past four years, or<br />
2,000 a week. In some areas, such as Ilford in<br />
East London, one-in-50 licence holders have<br />
been caught driving without insurance in the<br />
past four years. Bradford (one-in-57), and<br />
Romford (one-in-64) are also described as<br />
‘no insurance conviction hotspots’.<br />
And with the Financial Conduct Authority<br />
saying last week that premiums will rise by<br />
as much as 20% this year, after a rise of 21%<br />
since June 2022, the temptation for some<br />
drivers to not get insured is likely to increase.<br />
iCompario points to a survey of 1,600 UK<br />
12 NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
drivers which revealed that roughly a quarter<br />
would consider driving without insurance due<br />
to financial concerns and the cost.<br />
Andrew Davies, from iCompario, said: “The<br />
fact that hundreds of thousands of drivers<br />
are risking a criminal record, penalty points,<br />
and financial strife is deeply alarming.<br />
“Rising car insurance costs coupled with<br />
rising living costs are a potential worry, as it<br />
would be very problematic if the rate of<br />
uninsured drivers on UK roads were to<br />
increase in the coming months and years.”<br />
So what about that third story we<br />
mentioned? Well, here I have some skin in the<br />
game, so to speak. This week saw my eldest<br />
daughter pass her driving test, thanks in no<br />
small part to the expertise of her instructor,<br />
Craig. With these two stories whizzing round I<br />
did a little experiment on her behalf.<br />
For reasons too hard to explain I currently<br />
have an oldish Honda Civic sat on my drive. It<br />
sits unloved, SORN’d and uninsured. How<br />
much would it cost to insure that for my<br />
daughter, I wondered.<br />
I knew it was going to be a lot but when the<br />
cheapest quote comes in at £5,866, you<br />
know you are in trouble. The most expensive?<br />
Over £10,000.<br />
I swear I could hear the meerkat laughing.<br />
Okay, so what do we do about it? Well,<br />
“I knew it was going to be a lot but<br />
when the cheapest quote comes in<br />
at £5,866, you know you are in<br />
trouble. The most expensive? Over<br />
£10,000. I swear I could hear the<br />
meerkat laughing...”<br />
no-one asked if I would add a black box to the<br />
equation, nor Pass Plus (which was an<br />
option). In addition the quote was for a base<br />
in north-west London. It’s also true that the<br />
Civic in question has a 1.6-litre engine, and<br />
has a book value of less than £1,000 (which is<br />
why I said ‘more on that later’ as a retort to<br />
the point made by the BBC, that sometimes,<br />
premiums could outstrip the value of the car.)<br />
To be honest, it was all a theoretical<br />
exercise anyway. Living in London she is well<br />
aware of the challenges of affording a car in<br />
the capital, and with a Tube station on her<br />
doorstep doesn’t see the point.<br />
But here’s the rub: if this kind of ridiculous<br />
quoting is endemic, how long will it be before<br />
young people really do say, it’s just not worth<br />
learning to drive? Bear in mind that my<br />
daughter isn’t a 17-year-old; she’s 22, a<br />
graduate with a (very) responsible job. But at<br />
these prices insurance companies are<br />
basically saying they don’t want to insure any<br />
young drivers, and that creates problems for<br />
those who do want to utilise their longed-for,<br />
and hard fought for, driving licence by running<br />
their own vehicle.<br />
It also creates potential problems for ADIs.<br />
There is no shortage of work at present but<br />
as these stories trickle down into the<br />
consciousness of today’s later teens, will the<br />
supply line of learners start to dry up?<br />
Is it happening already? The BBC found<br />
that in 2019-20, 520,505 tests were taken by<br />
17 and 18-year-olds. But in 2022-23 that<br />
figure fell to 504,718 – and that is despite<br />
practically no testing in 2020 and 2021<br />
creating a pent-up demand. Are we seeing<br />
the start of a sea-change in ambition, with<br />
young people rejecting learning to drive?<br />
Or possibly dangerously, will we see 17-19<br />
year-olds who pass their L-test simply<br />
decide not to drive again for a while –<br />
possibly not until they reach 25, when<br />
premiums traditionally fall a little? At that<br />
point they would head for the roads<br />
inexperienced and without even the recent<br />
advice and guidance of their ADI to help them.<br />
We’ll see. But for the time being there is a<br />
22-year-old geologist on a Tube train in north<br />
London with a driving licence proudly sat in<br />
her purse. Whether it will come out any time<br />
soon, is a moot point.<br />
NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024 13
News<br />
The natives are getting<br />
restless in Bromley...<br />
MSA GB stepped in to fight ADIs’ corner after<br />
their training practices were criticised in an<br />
article in the Daily Mail.<br />
The paper sounded like it was definitely on<br />
the side of residents when it talked about a<br />
“constant stream of learner drivers plaguing<br />
the streets” of the Park Langley area of<br />
Bromley, south-east London, saying learners<br />
were making the locals’ lives hell with “with<br />
terrible three point turns, parallel parking and<br />
reversing around corners.”<br />
What’s worse, these actions were taking<br />
place in an area that has “tree-lined roads<br />
where the detached houses fetch over £1<br />
million each.”<br />
Heaven forbid that mere ADIs should enter<br />
such beautiful areas...<br />
Residents also complained about increased<br />
pollution through ADIs and pupils “parking<br />
outside their detached houses with their<br />
engines idling.”<br />
The residents’ association even wrote to<br />
one driving school asking them to choose<br />
other roads to give locals a break. One<br />
resident claimed that on a recent walk they<br />
saw at least 20 learner vehicles pass by in<br />
half an hour.<br />
Thankfully, the paper had the good grace<br />
to contact MSA GB to get the ADIs’ side of<br />
the row, and Peter Harvey was happy to<br />
oblige – and fair play to the Daily Mail for<br />
publishing his defence.<br />
He pointed out that: “There are no<br />
regulations that restrict driving instructors<br />
from going where they want as long as it’s<br />
legal.<br />
“Lots of people will say that although they<br />
are a pain when they are there, they are<br />
actually quite good for looking after people’s<br />
properties, as burglars are less likely to want<br />
to get caught somewhere where there are<br />
constantly cars around, so some may<br />
actually think it’s a good thing.<br />
“If there is a test centre somewhere<br />
nearby, instructors tend to use some areas<br />
more - if instructors are using it, it’s because<br />
examiners are too.<br />
“It might be a bit annoying, but everyone<br />
has to learn to drive. And there’s so much<br />
traffic around now that these quiet roads are<br />
actually quite rare.’<br />
Bromley does have a test centre, but it is<br />
on the other side of the town.<br />
Werner Schluep, of the Park Langley<br />
Residents’ Association, which led the<br />
complaints against the ADIs, said they had<br />
tried to address the issue.<br />
“We have noticed learner drivers in Park<br />
Langley for many years now,” Mr Schluep<br />
told the Daily Mail. “I guess there is nothing<br />
wrong with it per se, but I am constantly<br />
amazed at the sheer numbers around here.<br />
“Some days I see more learner drivers<br />
Left, a screen shot from the Daily Mail<br />
website showing some images that<br />
accompanied the article.<br />
What is interesting in the three shots is<br />
that each one shows a single ADI car, with<br />
no evidence of ‘multiple driving school<br />
cars operaing in the area’.<br />
than I do normal vehicles.<br />
“They’re queuing up at junctions and you<br />
have to avoid them while they are doing their<br />
three-point turns. It can be very frustrating.”<br />
What to do if you are approached by<br />
residents<br />
Stories such as this one surface from time<br />
to time – usually in the leafy suburbs, like<br />
Bromley. As Peter Harvey correctly pointed<br />
out, there is nothing wrong with learners<br />
practising in any particular area on the road<br />
– but common sense should tell instructors<br />
not to over-use some areas.<br />
MSA GB says: …“While it is rare to see ADIs<br />
banned from particular areas – we know it<br />
does happen with private spaces, such as car<br />
parks – residents who get upset by the<br />
presence of too many driving school cars can<br />
make life uncomfortable for learners,<br />
particularly those beginning their learningto-drive<br />
journey, as many of those using the<br />
roads around Bromley may very well be.<br />
“Such roads as those in Park Langley are<br />
great for learners when they start learning<br />
the basics, so we appreciate why ADIs use<br />
them. But we always ask memebrs to use<br />
common sense when selecting a training<br />
area; if you arrive at a favourite spot to<br />
practise a right reverse or parallel park, to find<br />
a number of other instructors in the area,<br />
delay that practising regime for the time<br />
being and move on to other tasks.<br />
“It’s also good to find spots a long way<br />
from DTCs, and to have a number of spots up<br />
your sleeve you can use, if one you like looks<br />
busy.”<br />
14 NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
Test centre changes<br />
The DVSA has announced a number of<br />
changes to driving test centres<br />
Crawley test centre: temporary closure<br />
While refurbishment works are being<br />
carried out at Crawley driving test centre<br />
(DTC) on Brighton Road, the DVSA will<br />
temporarily be operating out of the<br />
Broadfield Community Centre, Holyrood<br />
Place, from Monday, 4 March to 16 April.<br />
Eastbourne test centre: temporary closure<br />
While refurbishment works are being<br />
carried out at Eastbourne DTC on Wartling<br />
Road, the DVSA will temporarily be operating<br />
out of Sovereign Harbour Community Centre,<br />
Pevensey Bay Road . This will be from<br />
Monday, 14 June to Monday, 25 July.<br />
Hinkley test centre: temporary closure<br />
While refurbishment works are being<br />
carried out at Hinkley DTC on Brookside, all<br />
tests will temporarily be operating out of<br />
Automotive Transport Training on Jacknell<br />
Road, Hinkley LE10 3BS from Monday, 11<br />
March to Monday, 9 April.<br />
Mill Hill test centre: temporary closure<br />
Mill Hill driving test centre (DTC) on Granard<br />
Business Centre, Bunns Lane will be closed<br />
from Monday, 9 May to Monday, 20 June.<br />
Tests will run from Church House Service<br />
Offices at 120 Bunns Lane, Mill Hill NW7 2DZ<br />
during this period.<br />
Yeovil test centre: temporary closure<br />
Yeovil driving test centre (DTC) on Abbey<br />
Manor Business Centre, Abbots Meade will<br />
be closed from Monday, 24 march to Monday,<br />
8 May, with tests operating out of the<br />
Kensington Suite, Abbey Manor Business<br />
Centre on Preston Road, Yeovil BA20 2EN<br />
Coventry test centre: temporary closure<br />
Coventry driving test centre (DTC) on<br />
Bayton Road, Exhall will be temporarily<br />
closed from Wednesday, April 10 to<br />
Wednesday, May 22. During that period tests<br />
will be run from Nuneaton, Rugby and<br />
Warwick DTCs.<br />
Their addresses are:<br />
Nuneaton: 54 Vernons Lane, Nuneaton CV10<br />
8AA<br />
Rugby, 66b Somers Rd, Rugby CV22 7DH<br />
Warwick, Ground Floor, Wedgnock House<br />
Wedgnock Lane, Warwick CV34 5AP<br />
Nuneaton test centre temporary closure<br />
Nuneaton DTC on Vernons Lane will close<br />
temporarily from Monday, <strong>February</strong> 5 to<br />
Friday, March 1. During that period tests will<br />
be conducted from Coventry Driving Test<br />
Centre, Bayton Road industrial Estate, 42<br />
Baton Road, Coventry CV7 9EJ<br />
Middlesbrough test centre temporary<br />
relocation<br />
While refurbishment works are being<br />
carried out at Middlesbrough driving test<br />
centre on Maxwell Road the DVSA will<br />
operate out of South Tees Business Centre,<br />
Puddlers Lane, Middlesbrough TS6 6TL. This<br />
will be from Saturday, 24 <strong>February</strong> to<br />
Saturday, 7 April.<br />
Please note entrance to the building and<br />
customer parking is at the front of the Odeon<br />
Cinema, and candidates will be met in the<br />
foyer. Popcorn can be purchased while you<br />
wait.<br />
West Didsbury test centre temporary closure<br />
While refurbishment works are being<br />
carried out at West Didsbury driving test<br />
centre on Christie Way, West Didsbury M21<br />
7QY, testing will be operating out of Key<br />
House, Unit 7, Christie Fields, from Monday 19<br />
<strong>February</strong> to Monday 1 April.<br />
Bury St Edmunds test centre temporary<br />
relocation<br />
Bury St Edmunds driving test centre on St<br />
Andrew’s Street will be closed from 14 March<br />
to Friday 3 May, with tests run from DB<br />
Conference Rooms, Kempson Way, Bury St<br />
Edmunds IP3 7AR<br />
To get to the new DTC: Exit A14 Bury East<br />
at Junction 44 and follow the sign to the<br />
Moreton Hall area. Head up Bedingfield Way<br />
(past Sainsbury’s) until you reach the top of<br />
the hill. On your right you will see a John<br />
Bank’s Honda garage. Take the fourth exit<br />
(Kempson Way). The DB Conference Rooms<br />
is part of the Denny Bros Group and is the last<br />
building on left before the roundabout.<br />
Meet and greet will take place at the car<br />
park and candidates should wait at their<br />
vehicle for test start. Do not to use the car<br />
park for practice purposes. There will be no<br />
weekend testing during this period.<br />
In all cases, the DVSA has contacted<br />
candidates affected by this temporary<br />
relocation. However, if you have booked a<br />
test on behalf of your pupil, please let them<br />
know about these changes.<br />
Concern escooter<br />
injuries are being<br />
under reported<br />
PACTS has published a new report<br />
looking at the use of e-scooters, after<br />
finding that over 300 casualties reported<br />
to hospital after collisions.<br />
However, there appears to be huge<br />
discrepancies between the data on<br />
e-scooter casualties captured by<br />
hospitals and the police, amid claims that<br />
the number of injuries caused by these<br />
vehicles is widely under reported.<br />
PACTS says: “Knowing how many<br />
people are injured in road traffic collisions<br />
is important. It means that, for any form<br />
of transport, the risk of harm to the driver<br />
or rider and the risk of harm to other road<br />
users can be better understood.<br />
“Official data for all road traffic<br />
casualties are based on police records. It<br />
has long been accepted that comparing<br />
official police data on the number of<br />
people presenting at hospital with an<br />
injury from a road traffic collision, with<br />
hospital data, highlights discrepancies.”<br />
PACTs found that:<br />
n Fewer than 10% of casualties with<br />
injury from a collision involving an<br />
e-scooter presenting to emergency<br />
departments were recorded in the official<br />
data;<br />
n Only around a quarter of those most<br />
seriously injured in collisions involving<br />
e-scooters were recorded by both the<br />
police and at hospitals.<br />
PACTS says that all collisions resulting<br />
in injury should be reported to the police<br />
to allow for a clearer picture to develop<br />
over the safety impacts of their usage.<br />
PACTS has called on the DfT to:<br />
n Improve the means of recording<br />
e-scooter casualties by updating<br />
guidance to rental operators; and,<br />
n Issue clear information to the public<br />
about the obligations of reporting road<br />
traffic collisions to the police, including<br />
those involving e-scooter.<br />
Margaret Winchcomb, PACTS Deputy<br />
Executive Director, said:<br />
“It is essential that the methods for<br />
measuring e-scooters’ hazard to riders<br />
and danger to other road users are<br />
consistent and robust so that safety is<br />
adequately understood.<br />
“The Government should improve and<br />
widen the way injuries from e-scooter<br />
collisions are recorded.”<br />
NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024 15
News<br />
It’s all the best from MSA GB as DVSA’s London<br />
region ADI managers announce their retirement<br />
Members in the London & South East will<br />
know George Kountouros, ADI Manager.<br />
George has decided to retire from the DVSA.<br />
He obtained his ADI qualification in 1982 and<br />
became a part of the DSA/DVSA in 1999,<br />
initially serving as a contract examiner at<br />
Morden before assuming the role of a<br />
substantive DE.<br />
In 2003, George achieved qualification to<br />
conduct part 2s and 3s, and by 2005, he also<br />
became qualified to conduct the old-style<br />
check tests. In 2014, he attained<br />
qualifications for the new Standards Tests<br />
and ORDIT.<br />
George’s career advanced and he took on<br />
roles such as SDE at Wallington DTC, TCM at<br />
Sutton, and a deputy position as DTAM. In<br />
2017, he transitioned to enforcement, taking<br />
on the role of ADI manager (SE) for the<br />
entirety of South London and the Southeast.<br />
In this capacity, he successfully led a<br />
team of nine ADI examiners.<br />
George was a good friend to MSA GB,<br />
always happy to turn up at meetings and<br />
offer advice and counsel to members.<br />
He’s gone full circle as he has his ADI<br />
certificate back, so you may see him out and<br />
about the streets, mainly doing PDI and<br />
ORDIT training to help instructors keep up<br />
their standards.<br />
DVSA is also losing another friend of the<br />
MSA GB, in Nigel Robinson. Nigel was head of<br />
ADI and ORDIT standards, and most of us will<br />
have bumped into Nigel in the events we have<br />
organised all over the country,<br />
He was instrumental in writing the National<br />
Standards as well as being heavily involved in<br />
the content of the new Standards Check.<br />
Nigel will also stay in the industry with his<br />
ADI certificate; he is mainly going to be<br />
concentrating on a partnership with a fellow<br />
retiree from DVSA, offering their wealth of<br />
experience to ADIs through workshops and<br />
ORDIT training.<br />
MSA GB would like to wish both George<br />
and Nigel a happy retirement and look<br />
forward to seeing them both at some of our<br />
training events in the future.<br />
‘Is pushing it worth it?’,<br />
THINK! campaign asks<br />
THINK! has relaunched a campaign which<br />
urges young, male drivers to think about the<br />
dangers of driving too fast for road conditions<br />
– especially on rural roads.<br />
Data shows that speed kills and injures 58<br />
young people every week. But despite this,<br />
THINK! research highlights that only 32% of<br />
young men consider it very risky.<br />
THINK! has relaunched its ‘Is pushing it<br />
worth it?’ campaign to raise awareness of the<br />
impact that not driving at the correct speed<br />
for the conditions, or slight speeding on rural<br />
roads can have.<br />
More on the campaign, plus assets and<br />
toolkit road safety professionals can use, can<br />
be found HERE.<br />
Police pledges<br />
more random<br />
breath tests<br />
Ross takes on Brake role<br />
Road safety Brake has announced that Ross<br />
Moorlock is to be its new chief executive<br />
officer. Ross has held the position of interim<br />
CEO since April 2023, when founder and<br />
former chief executive Mary Williams OBE<br />
retired after 29 years in the role.<br />
Ross joined the charity back in 2017 as<br />
chief operating officer. He has overseen a<br />
period of significant expansion, with growth<br />
across all teams including campaigns,<br />
fundraising and operations, but most<br />
significantly within the National Road Victim<br />
Service. Its Road Safety Week in November<br />
reached 18 million people through<br />
participation at its various events.<br />
Police have vowed to step up roadside breath<br />
tests following an increase in deaths caused<br />
by drunk drivers.<br />
Police data shows that in England and<br />
Wales, 249,542 motorists were breathalysed<br />
in 2022 – up 8% compared on 2021.<br />
Shockingly, nearly 17% were over the limit<br />
– similar to the previous two years.<br />
In 2021 there were 260 deaths on Britain’s<br />
roads where a motorist was over the drink<br />
drive limit – the highest since 2009.<br />
Department for Transport figures estimate<br />
a total of 6,740 people were killed or injured in<br />
drink-drive accidents, with drunk drivers<br />
accounting for 17% of road deaths – the same<br />
percentage as tested positive.<br />
“We’re pleased to see an increase in the<br />
number of dedicated road policing officers,<br />
which has resulted in stricter enforcement,”<br />
comments Hunter Abbott, managing director<br />
of personal breathalyser firm AlcoSense.<br />
“Home Office figures show there were<br />
3,960 traffic officers by March 2023 – up 2%<br />
on the previous year.<br />
“However our testing levels still lag way<br />
behind other European countries. In England<br />
& Wales just five tests per 1,000 inhabitants<br />
are carried out.<br />
“In Ireland the figure is 18 per 1,000<br />
population, while in France it’s 109”.<br />
Other reasons for the increase in<br />
breathalyser tests in 2022 include traffic<br />
returning to normal levels following the Covid<br />
restrictions and the football World Cup.<br />
16 NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
Learner bike<br />
riders to get<br />
new hazard test<br />
An exciting new project has been launched<br />
that could take the training of new bike riders<br />
to the next level.<br />
The National Young Rider Forum is working<br />
on the development of a new motorcycle<br />
specific hazard perception test, to be tailored<br />
specifically to the needs of young riders.<br />
Currently, all riders looking to gain their full<br />
bike licence take a theory test which includes<br />
a hazard perception test. However, it is felt<br />
that the test for bikers has fallen behind that<br />
of young learner car drivers, whose test<br />
using realistic CGI is regarded as a world leader.<br />
The new project would look to improve this<br />
test by making it more realistic for young bike<br />
riders. It has been funded by The Road Safety<br />
Trust and will be carried out by Esitu<br />
Solutions, a spin out company from<br />
Nottingham Trent University.<br />
Dr Victoria Kroll said: “Esitu Solutions is<br />
really excited to be collaborating with the<br />
National Young Rider Forum on this pivotal<br />
project. We know that young motorcyclists<br />
are overrepresented in crash statistics. The<br />
data show many of the crashes they are<br />
involved in are the fault of other vehicles,<br />
particularly those with four wheels.<br />
“This project seeks to improve the hazard<br />
perception, and hazard prediction skills of<br />
young riders, by showing those hazards from<br />
the perspective of a motorcyclist riding in a<br />
mainly urban road environment. This will<br />
ensure the test will reflect the real dangers<br />
faced by riders.”<br />
Heidi Duffy MBE, National Young Rider<br />
Forum, said: “Sadly, over the last three years,<br />
nearly 12,000 young motorcyclists have been<br />
injured in road crashes, and of those, nearly<br />
4,000 have been killed or seriously injured.<br />
That’s why projects like this are vital.”<br />
The new test will be available in 2025.<br />
Despite increased awareness among<br />
motorists of how to behave around horses<br />
on the road, the British Horse Society (BHS)<br />
reports that 66 horses and three equestrians<br />
were killed on our roads in 2023.<br />
In total, 3,383 road incidents involving<br />
horses were recorded via the equine<br />
charity’s Horse i app last year.<br />
This sad news comes after new Highway<br />
Code guidance for equestrians was<br />
strengthened in 2022, giving car, lorry, truck<br />
and motorbikes more responsibility around<br />
horse riders, on account of their increased<br />
Richard Allsop dies, aged 84<br />
The road safety sector has lost one of its<br />
foremost pioneers with the sad news that<br />
Professor Richard Allsop has died after a<br />
short illness.<br />
Richard was one of the pioneers on the<br />
effects of alcohol on driving, an advisor to the<br />
British Government and a key figure in both<br />
the UK’s Parliamentary Advisory Council on<br />
Transport Safety (PACTS) and ETSC.<br />
Throughout his career he built a formidable<br />
reputation in the transport safety field<br />
through timely and meticulous research in<br />
areas such as drink-driving, seatbelts, signal<br />
controlled junctions, risk and choice on roads,<br />
the safe system and the impact of the<br />
Three riders, 66<br />
horses killed on<br />
the roads in 2023<br />
vulnerability.<br />
BHS says: “As part of our Dead Slow road<br />
safety campaign, we are encouraging road<br />
users to evaluate how they pass horses as<br />
well as how impactful passing them too<br />
closely and too quickly can be.<br />
“Road incidents involving equestrians<br />
continue to persist across the UK. Critically,<br />
people and horses are still being killed. We<br />
can do more to change this narrative.”<br />
As part of its plans BHS is rolling out<br />
guidance to motorists and equestrians<br />
throughout <strong>February</strong>.<br />
economic recession on traffic deaths. He was<br />
a committed researcher who wanted to see<br />
his research leading to policy change, not<br />
sitting on the shelf.<br />
As an academic he was highly regarded:<br />
“outstanding” was the view of many. He was<br />
a powerful influence on policy development<br />
and the understanding of road safety.<br />
His work was recognised by an OBE but his<br />
colleagues gave him a greater accolade: a<br />
true gentleman who went out of his way to<br />
help others. It is no exaggeration to say that<br />
many people today owe their lives to his<br />
persistence and rigorous determination in the<br />
cause of road safety.<br />
17
Spotlight: Compulsory CPD<br />
For many years the DVSA has been skirting around the issue of CPD for ADIs,<br />
recommending it strongly but stopping short of making it compulsory. Here<br />
NEIL WIGHTMAN looks at the issue and makes the case for the DVSA getting<br />
off the fence, and making it mandatory for ADIs to upgrade their skills<br />
Let’s get serious and make CPD<br />
mandatory and accountable<br />
I know the idea of CPD is like Marmite: you<br />
either love it or hate it. But I think it’s time to<br />
raise it again, after the DVSA sent an email to<br />
ADIs with an attachment to its CPD template.<br />
It is scary that instructors don’t engage in<br />
training until the ‘official’ email drops into<br />
their inbox. This is one of the biggest<br />
problems I have encountered as an instructor<br />
trainer. Then, panic takes over and they<br />
search for training and an activity that is<br />
enough to get them through the Standards<br />
Check with minimal time spent.<br />
Questions I think need to be asked include,<br />
is introducing a standards check, if targets<br />
are not met, a scare tactic or a way of<br />
improving the pass rates?<br />
I don’t believe it is a way forward as new<br />
pressure builds on the instructor and the<br />
student. Controlling someone’s decision<br />
when you are not there is impossible.<br />
Would it therefore be more beneficial to<br />
make CPD mandatory for instructors and<br />
the industry?<br />
My experience tells me that CPD needs to<br />
be mandatory. For me, CPD has only helped<br />
me move my career forward, opening new<br />
doors, increasing my reputation, and<br />
improving my self-confidence.<br />
My story only profited from my desire not<br />
to become stagnant. From all these benefits,<br />
my company grew, and became an awardwinning<br />
one.<br />
It is time for mandatory CPD and why<br />
continuing professional development should<br />
not be underestimated; it is a career-long<br />
obligation for practising professionals.<br />
Suppose it was mandatory, like in other<br />
professional organisations. Still, mainly at its<br />
core, it is driven by the personal responsibility<br />
of the professionals to keep their knowledge<br />
and skills current to deliver high-quality<br />
service that safeguards the public and meets<br />
the expectations of the customers and the<br />
requirements of their profession.<br />
The outcome of well-planned and<br />
well-crafted, continuing professional<br />
development is important because it benefits<br />
the individual’s career, and public through the<br />
following points.<br />
n CPD ensures your capabilities keep pace<br />
with the standards of others in the same field.<br />
n CPD ensures you maintain and enhance<br />
the knowledge and skills you need to deliver<br />
a professional service to your customers,<br />
clients and the community.<br />
n CPD ensures that you and your<br />
knowledge stay relevant and up to date. You<br />
are more aware of the changing trends and<br />
18 NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
directions in your profession. Change is<br />
probably faster than ever – and this is a<br />
feature of the new normal in which we live and<br />
work. If you stand still you will get left behind,<br />
as the currency of your knowledge and skills<br />
becomes outdated.<br />
n CPD helps you continue to make a<br />
meaningful contribution to your team. You<br />
become more effective in the workplace. It<br />
assists you in advancing your career and<br />
moving into new positions where you can<br />
lead, manage, influence, coach and mentor<br />
others.<br />
n CPD helps you stay interested.<br />
Experience is a great teacher.<br />
n Focused CPD opens you to new<br />
possibilities, knowledge, and skill areas.<br />
n CPD can deliver a deeper understanding<br />
of what it means to be a professional and a<br />
greater appreciation of the implications and<br />
impacts of your work.<br />
n CPD helps advance the body of<br />
knowledge and technology within your<br />
profession.<br />
n CPD can lead to increased public<br />
confidence in individual professionals and<br />
their profession.<br />
n Depending on the profession, CPD<br />
contributes to improved protection and<br />
quality of life, the environment, sustainability,<br />
property and the economy. This particularly<br />
applies to high-risk areas or specialised<br />
sectors – such as driving instruction.<br />
These can all be used as evidence of<br />
continuing professional development for your<br />
revalidation.<br />
n Mandatory training that is not directly<br />
related to your practice.<br />
n Certificates from officially verified CPD<br />
courses. These are more credible to regulators<br />
and businesses as the learning value has been<br />
scrutinised to ensure integrity and quality.<br />
CPD can be split into three types of<br />
learning.<br />
1. Structured CPD / Active Learning<br />
Structured CPD / active learning involves<br />
interactive and participation-based study. It is<br />
typically proactive and can include attending<br />
training courses, workshops, seminars,<br />
conferences, e-learning courses or CPDcertified<br />
events.<br />
CPD active learning can also apply to<br />
professionals taking career-orientated<br />
exams; the study and revision would be<br />
considered self-directed learning.<br />
2. Reflective CPD / Passive Learning<br />
Reflective learning involves no participantbased<br />
interaction, so this form of CPD is much<br />
more passive and one-directional.<br />
Examples include reading relevant news<br />
articles, podcasts and case studies and<br />
industry updates. Some informal meetings<br />
can apply to CPD reflective learning, but the<br />
learning must be clear in an individual’s overall<br />
CPD plan.<br />
3. Self-Directed CPD / Unstructured Learning<br />
Self-directed learning involves all<br />
unaccompanied CPD activities. It covers<br />
reading documents, articles and publications<br />
in print or online. Reading relevant<br />
publications, books by leading experts,<br />
industry journals and trade magazines is<br />
self-directed CPD. You could also include<br />
industry-specific news feeds or research into<br />
appropriate fields.<br />
Adapting positively<br />
Continuing Professional Development<br />
enables individuals to adapt positively to<br />
changes in work and industry requirements.<br />
Planning CPD helps an individual be more<br />
efficient with their time, and recording your<br />
CPD provides the evidence that can be helpful<br />
for meeting professional body obligations and<br />
employer supervision and appraisals.<br />
CPD shows a clear commitment to<br />
self-development and professionalism. It<br />
allows an individual to identify knowledge<br />
gaps and resolve these in a recognisable<br />
approach to improvement.<br />
Accredited CPD providers should make a<br />
Certificate of Attendance available to<br />
individuals to attach to their CPD log as<br />
evidence of development once a training<br />
course is complete or within the desired<br />
learning standards.<br />
I believe in continuous learning and see this<br />
as only a benefit for all instructors. The<br />
biggest challenge to the DVSA and instructors<br />
is increasing the pass rate, but I also believe<br />
we must be recognised as a profession.<br />
What is a professional?<br />
The term ‘professional’ refers to anyone<br />
who earns a living from performing an<br />
activity that requires a certain level of<br />
education, skill, or training.<br />
Let’s be clear. I’m not saying we should<br />
dispose of the Standards Check, because our<br />
teaching abilities must be monitored. Plus, all<br />
this may create better instructor standards<br />
by raising grades.<br />
So, how would a mandatory system work? I<br />
envisaged a file held by the DVSA. Instructors<br />
would upload details and certificates of their<br />
CPD, courses and training to this, which keeps<br />
it relevant and consistent. Instructors could<br />
have a personal development plan (PDP)<br />
where they record the CPD done over the<br />
years in between Standard Checks.<br />
These are my reasons for making CPD<br />
mandatory, and I believe that every person<br />
doing CPD grows their knowledge and<br />
becomes better at “being the best they can<br />
be”.<br />
Continuing professional development<br />
ensures that you continue to be proficient and<br />
competent in your profession while furnishing<br />
you with essential skills to help you progress<br />
with your career.<br />
It’s not just a one-stop shop; it continues<br />
and develops throughout your career.<br />
This is just my opinion.<br />
Neil Wightman M.Inst.MTD is member of MSA<br />
GB as well as a member of the Institute of<br />
Master Tutors of Driving.<br />
NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024 19
Members’ section<br />
MSA GB Annual Conference 2024<br />
It’s a case of all roads lead to Telford as we head to Shropshire<br />
for the MSA GB Annual Conference 2024.<br />
To be held from March 22-23 at the stunning Telford Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort<br />
in Shropshire, our Conference promises to be the ideal mix of information,<br />
debate, advice, education, networking and fun, as the MSA GB membership<br />
comes together to learn more about, and discuss, the big issues of the day.<br />
We are in the middle of confirming all our keynote presenters, but we can<br />
guarantee an exciting and knowledgeable roster of high-profile names from<br />
the DVSA and driver training and road safety communities.<br />
Bookings are open now. Just click on the link below to book. See the price list<br />
below, with day, day/night and full weekend packages available.<br />
Book now!<br />
Early Bird<br />
Prices<br />
EXTENDED<br />
until FEB 23<br />
Telford Hotel,<br />
Spa & Golf<br />
Resort<br />
We have endeavoured to keep our prices as low as possible while providing a high-quality<br />
weekend, and the Telford Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort has more than enough to keep nondelegate<br />
partners happy, with a superb swimming pool and spa, golf and other attractions<br />
on site, as well as having the beautiful Severn Valley and iconic UNESCO World Heritage Site<br />
of Ironbridge Gorge on its doorstep. Even better, we have arranged a special MSA GB<br />
Conference discount on all spa treatments and golf fees!<br />
Please note: All prices below are EARLY BIRD prices, and will be held until FEBRUARY<br />
23. After that date, some prices may rise.<br />
https://msagb.com/msa-gb-national-conference/<br />
Full Conference packages<br />
Two nights’ accommodation and breakfast, Friday & Saturday<br />
evening meals, Saturday lunch, Conference delegate ticket<br />
Single booking:<br />
£275<br />
Couple sharing (with non-delegate ticket):<br />
£385<br />
* Non delegates receive lunch<br />
on the Saturday<br />
One-day Conference packages<br />
One night’s accommodation and breakfast, Friday OR Saturday<br />
evening meals, Saturday lunch; Conference delegate ticket<br />
Single booking:<br />
£165<br />
Couple sharing (with non-delegate ticket):<br />
£235<br />
* Non delegates receive lunch<br />
on the Saturday<br />
Conference<br />
debates,<br />
workshops and<br />
trade stands<br />
Conference day delegate<br />
Conference delegate ticket for Saturday<br />
If booked before<br />
£49<br />
FEBRUARY 23 ...<br />
Ticket price includes coffee on arrival,<br />
morning coffee, lunch and tea in the<br />
afternoon as well as all paperwork and<br />
CPD acknowledgement<br />
Thinking of bringing<br />
the family?<br />
There are other options available during<br />
Saturday should you wish to make this a<br />
family weekend and bring the children.<br />
You can find full details at:<br />
https://msagb.com/msa-gb-nationalconference/<br />
20 NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
Conference speakers<br />
The conference will comprise of a number of speakers and workshops, with<br />
speakers drawn to create the most comprehensive and diverse ptrogramme<br />
possible.<br />
Just some of the confirmed speakers and topics we will cover are :<br />
SPEAKERS TO INCLUDE (pictured right, from top)<br />
n G Sabina – Roberts<br />
n Graham Feest<br />
n Dr Julia Malkin MBE<br />
n Representatives from FBTC<br />
PLUS representatives from the DVSA and MSA GB,<br />
with a comprehensive update on the latest news<br />
from across the driver training and testing sector<br />
Topics to include<br />
Teaching with<br />
and for<br />
disabilities<br />
Your tax – going<br />
digital and what you<br />
can claim for<br />
MSA GB<br />
update and<br />
future plans<br />
Update on the next<br />
European driving<br />
licence directive<br />
LGBTQ+ business<br />
awareness -<br />
Gender diversity<br />
Safer roads, vehicles,<br />
and road users:<br />
using a safe systems<br />
approach<br />
DVSA changes:<br />
how they will affect<br />
driver trainers<br />
BOOK NOW:<br />
Early Bird discount<br />
ends on <strong>February</strong> 23<br />
NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024 21
Members’ section<br />
MSA GB<br />
membership<br />
offer<br />
MSA GB has arranged a new<br />
membership special offer – a<br />
new breakdown insurance<br />
partnership with trusted<br />
partners Telematicus Services<br />
Limited (t/a Smart Green<br />
Drivers).<br />
Don’t be left in the lurch if<br />
your car breaks down<br />
MSA GB has arranged a great new<br />
membership offer – comprehensive but<br />
cost-effective breakdown insurance cover<br />
from Telematicus Services Limited.<br />
There are two simple and cost-effective<br />
levels of cover for you to choose from.<br />
Telematicus Services Limited (t/a Smart<br />
Green Drivers) provides breakdown cover for<br />
cars, vans and motorcycles at pocketpleasing<br />
prices. However, just because it<br />
costs less than you think, doesn’t mean they<br />
cut any corners and still offer quality, reliable<br />
and trustworthy breakdown cover for all.<br />
Full UK cover<br />
Telematicus Services Limited’s highquality,<br />
low-cost breakdown solution covers<br />
the whole of the UK, and is specifically<br />
designed for the motorist who wishes to be<br />
covered in every eventuality.<br />
What’s included<br />
n No excesses or call out charges.<br />
n For vehicles up to 9 years old<br />
n Home Start.<br />
n Cover for punctures and flat tyres.<br />
n Cover anywhere throughout the UK<br />
n Includes hire car, overnight accommodation<br />
and onward travel options.<br />
n Unlimited callouts during the year of policy.<br />
n Over 3,000 recovery agents nationally.<br />
Telematicus Services Limited policies cover<br />
the vehicle, not the individual, meaning<br />
whoever is driving the vehicle at the time of a<br />
breakdown is eligible to call for assistance.<br />
Cover on holiday, too<br />
For ultimate cover, Telematicus Services<br />
Limited’s Full UK & EU policy has it all.<br />
Providing the same great benefits and<br />
coverage as that of its full UK Cover, but with<br />
the added surety of European travel, it makes<br />
for a complete policy.<br />
What’s included (in addition to the above)<br />
n Cover in any EU member state country<br />
plus Switzerland and Norway.<br />
n Includes extended hire car, overnight<br />
accommodation and onward travel options.<br />
n Unlimited callouts during the term of the<br />
policy<br />
Again, the full UK & EU policies cover the<br />
vehicle, not the individual, meaning whoever<br />
is driving the vehicle at the time of a<br />
breakdown is eligible to call for assistance.<br />
MSA GB vice-chairman Peter Harvey<br />
commented: “We like to think that MSA GB is<br />
the association that never sleeps, as we<br />
continually work to enhance our membership<br />
package, so you always feel supported and<br />
prepared for the wins and challenges that the<br />
life of a driving instructor brings.<br />
“We think this breakdown cover from<br />
Telematicus Services Limited t/a Smart<br />
Green Drivers will give you peace of mind<br />
without the cost usually associated with<br />
cover of this kind, and at a special discount<br />
price for members.”<br />
HOW CAN I FIND OUT MORE?<br />
A full set of frequently asked questions can<br />
be found at their website, accessed by<br />
clicking the panel below.<br />
Click here for the full<br />
list of new numbers<br />
To access your breakdown offer please follow<br />
this link.<br />
Click here for the full<br />
list of new numbers<br />
22 NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
Get 10p off every litre of fuel<br />
with special MSA GB deal<br />
The cost-of-living crisis is putting many<br />
ADIs under considerable financial pressure,<br />
and nowhere is it felt more than through<br />
the rising cost of fuel.<br />
So to help alleviate some of the burden<br />
on our members, we’re thrilled to<br />
announce a brand-new partnership with<br />
FUEL CARD SERVICES.<br />
A fuel card from MSA GB partner, Fuel<br />
Card Services can provide huge benefits to<br />
businesses that use vehicles on a daily<br />
basis:<br />
n Cutting fuel costs - save up to 10p per<br />
litre and get a consistent price.<br />
n Increased security - fuel cards are a<br />
safer alternative to carrying cash and<br />
eliminate fraud.<br />
n Streamline admin - HMRC compliant<br />
invoices, no receipts, one neat invoice and<br />
a dedicated account manager.<br />
n Tighter control of business expenses<br />
- view transactions and reports online 24/7.<br />
n Increased flexibility for refuelling<br />
across a huge network.<br />
n Fleet convenience - a quick and<br />
convenient way for fleets to refuel.<br />
There are a range of fuel cards available<br />
on the market and for your business to<br />
truly benefit from investing in fuel cards,<br />
you need to choose the right one for your<br />
businesses’ requirements.<br />
FUEL CARD SERVICES offers a large<br />
choice of networks from leading brands,<br />
such as BP, Shell, Esso and UK Fuels, so<br />
you can decide which networks you wish<br />
to include on your business account.<br />
Fuel Card Services and MSA GB are<br />
helping to deliver cost savings to<br />
members throughout the country.<br />
For more details and to obtain a fuel<br />
card through MSA GB, go to our website at<br />
https://msagb.com/members/<br />
member-discounts/<br />
MEMBER OFFER<br />
What are the latest UK fuel prices?<br />
The prices right are the latest available unleaded petrol and diesel averages<br />
across supermarket, motorway and independent forecourts in the UK, according<br />
to data compiled by the RAC. Prices correct at the end of January. Continuing<br />
instability in the Middle East, affecting both fuel output and transport through the<br />
Red Sea, risks causing price rises in the coming weeks.<br />
UNLEADED<br />
DIESEL<br />
UK average 140.44p 148.42p<br />
Motorway 163.88p 172.49p<br />
Supermarkets 138p 146.2p<br />
MEMBER OFFER<br />
AlcoSense: Every ADI should have one handy<br />
MSA GB has teamed up with leading supplier of personal<br />
breathalyser kits AlcoSense to bring our members a<br />
very special offer.<br />
The AlcoSense kits give an instant and accurate<br />
snapshot of whether you – or your pupil – has alcohol in<br />
your/their system, and are particularly useful ‘the<br />
morning after.’<br />
Peter Harvey, MSA GB national vice chairman,<br />
commented: “These are a quality product. They arrive<br />
well packaged, with the required batteries, five<br />
mouthpieces and full instructions. They are very easy to<br />
use, with a simple menu, and can be adjusted to suit the<br />
country you are in depending on the legal limit there.<br />
Once set up, the breathalyser gives a very clear reading<br />
in traffic light colours, making it easy to follow.<br />
“Green, as you would expect, tells you you are okay to<br />
drive. Amber advises you that alcohol is present but you<br />
are below the limit you entered at set up – though it is so<br />
important to check what the limit is in the country you<br />
use it. Red is pretty self-explanatory – Don’t drive.<br />
“The set is very compact, about the same size as a<br />
mobile phone but a little deeper. It is ideal for eliminating<br />
any concerns you may have the morning after – or for<br />
your pupils.”<br />
The Excel model costs around £100 and can be viewed:<br />
https://alcosense.co.uk/alcosense.html.<br />
But we’ve negotiated a special discount on the entire<br />
AlcoSense range (except single-use disposables) of 10<br />
per cent for members IF BOUGHT THROUGH THE MSA<br />
GB WEBSITE – from the entry-level Lite 2 (£44.99) to<br />
the top-of-the-range Ultra (£249.00), with other<br />
options available. Go to<br />
https://msagb.com/members/member-discounts/<br />
to secure your member discount.<br />
NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024 23
Members’ section<br />
MSA GB launches new partnership with insurer to<br />
keep you on the road when things go wrong<br />
MSA GB partners with AI<br />
Insurance Solutions Limited<br />
to provide members with dual<br />
control cars for when things<br />
don’t quite go to plan.<br />
A critical service to driving instructors is the<br />
provision of a dual-controlled replacement<br />
vehicle for non-fault and fault accidents.<br />
But in recent months we have had several<br />
calls from MSA GB members across the<br />
country who have been let down by their<br />
insurance company not being able to supply a<br />
dual-controlled vehicle when they have had<br />
an accident.<br />
They report that they are usually offered a<br />
replacement vehicle but not one with dual<br />
controls – which isn’t a lot of good when<br />
running a driving school.<br />
MSA GB steps in<br />
Understanding the stress and the<br />
detriment to your business this can cause,<br />
we are pleased to announce that we have<br />
formed an exclusive agreement with AI<br />
Solutions Ltd to supply a replacement vehicle<br />
to you should the need arise.<br />
This means that MSA GB members will be<br />
able to obtain both a replacement manual or<br />
automatic dual-controlled car for both fault<br />
and non-fault accidents, without the need to<br />
buy an extra insurance policy to cover the risk.<br />
The cost of using this new service is zero.<br />
You don’t need to register or buy an<br />
insurance policy.<br />
If you need to use the service the cost of<br />
your replacement vehicle will be charged<br />
either to their insurance policy or yours,<br />
depending entirely on who is at fault.<br />
Additionally, if the vehicle needs to be<br />
recovered, this also will be charged to the<br />
appropriate insurer.<br />
However, we must stress that this does<br />
not impose any restrictions on where you get<br />
your vehicle repaired.<br />
The FCA states under ‘treating customers<br />
fairly’ that - ‘a policy-holder does not have to<br />
use the services of their broker or insurer but<br />
can access any service they choose without<br />
their instructor insurance policy being<br />
invalidated.’<br />
So, in the event of an accident you simply<br />
need to contact The AI Insurance Solutions<br />
Emergency (AIIS) assistance line on 01945<br />
425211. AIIS will then inform your insurer and<br />
organise for your replacement dual controlled<br />
car to be delivered to your chosen location as<br />
soon as possible.<br />
If your vehicle is drivable and legal<br />
post-event, then it is best to arrange a<br />
delivery to the body repairer at an agreed<br />
time. If the vehicle, however, is not drivable,<br />
then AI Solutions will ensure that it is<br />
delivered to the most convenient location for<br />
you.<br />
Sadly, statistically, road traffic crashes do<br />
happen, and we cannot prevent you from<br />
being involved in one.<br />
However, with this new agreement we<br />
hope to ensure that any impact to MSA GB<br />
members is kept to a minimum.<br />
How it<br />
works...<br />
n A prompt and<br />
courteous reporting<br />
process 24 hours a day<br />
n To be taken to a safe<br />
place/home if your car<br />
is not drivable<br />
n A replacement dual<br />
controlled car on same<br />
day as accident<br />
reported, if before 2pm<br />
(in Scotland, this may<br />
take up to 24hrs)<br />
n The vehicle will be of<br />
a similar size<br />
n Regular updates on<br />
your vehicle’s repair<br />
24 NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
FAQs on the new membership service<br />
Q: How do I use the service?<br />
A: You just call AIIS’s emergency<br />
assistance number on 01945 425211.<br />
Q: What will the service cost me?<br />
A: Just the cost of a call.<br />
Q: Should I notify my insurance company?<br />
A: Absolutely, although AIIS will also talk to<br />
them to confirm hire provision and, where<br />
appropriate, details of the repairer.<br />
Q: What if my vehicle is not drivable?<br />
A: AIIS will recover the vehicle to safe<br />
storage and get you home or to a<br />
nominated location.<br />
Q: Is this an insurance product that I need<br />
to purchase?<br />
A: No, the service is provided to you on a<br />
no-cost basis.<br />
Q: What if my vehicle is drivable?<br />
A: AIIS can arrange for an estimate to<br />
completed and deliver the car to the<br />
repairer to ensure that you are mobile<br />
throughout the process and that there is<br />
no loss of income.<br />
Emergency crash protocol: What to do if you are involved in a crash<br />
In the event of a crash, call 01945 425211 to use the AIIS offer<br />
More MSA GB membership offers<br />
and discounts - see pg 38-39<br />
NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024 25
Members’ section<br />
New membership service: Find My Local<br />
MSA GB Instructor directory launched<br />
Cut through the competition<br />
by advertising your skills on<br />
MSA GB’s own ADI directory<br />
With the DVSA (https://tinyurl.com/<br />
4b3t9a9e) reporting a 24 per cent increase in<br />
the number of new driving instructor<br />
registrations in 2022/2023, compared to<br />
2020/2021, our industry is set to become<br />
even more competitive as driving instructors<br />
do battle to gain the attention of those<br />
wanting to learn to drive.<br />
To help MSA GB members cut through the<br />
industry noise and raise their profile, we’re<br />
delighted to announce the launch of our<br />
online ‘Find My Local MSA GB Instructor’<br />
directory, which will be proudly displayed on<br />
the MSA GB home page and on the MSA GB<br />
App.<br />
Once live, this new directory will be easily<br />
accessible by the public, who can use our<br />
simple search engine to source a driving<br />
instructor in their local area, who suits their<br />
learning needs.<br />
For MSA GB members it couldn’t be simpler<br />
to input your details and make sure you stand<br />
out from the crowd. We’ve included several<br />
opportunities for you to highlight any special<br />
skills or teaching experience that you may<br />
have, for example teaching pupils with<br />
disabilities or those who are particularly<br />
anxious drivers.<br />
To upload your profile onto the MSA GB<br />
directory, all you need to do is:<br />
n Log into the Member Area<br />
n Look to the left of the page and scroll<br />
down until you see three blue arrow tabs.<br />
n Click on the tab - ‘Add Directory listing’<br />
n You will then be taken to the following<br />
page:<br />
n Input your details and upload your photo<br />
(adding your photo is optional)<br />
n Once you’ve inputted all your details,<br />
check that all your information is correct<br />
n Tick the box if you agree to share your<br />
details on the website. Please note if you do<br />
not tick the box your details will not appear<br />
on the on the Find My Local MSA GB<br />
Instructor directory.<br />
n Click submit – and your done!<br />
This is just one of the many fantastic<br />
benefits that MSA GB members get to enjoy<br />
with their membership, which also includes:<br />
n PI & PL Insurance cover totalling £10<br />
million.<br />
n Legal & Technical Advice<br />
n Member Representation<br />
n Access to a wealth of exclusive<br />
information and downloadable resources<br />
n Member Discounts<br />
n Our monthly digital industry magazine<br />
- <strong>Newslink</strong><br />
n Comprehensive driving school cover.<br />
We hope registering is a straightforward<br />
process, but if you need any assistance, or<br />
have any queries, don’t hesitate to contact<br />
our membership team on info@msagb.com<br />
or 01787 221 020<br />
26 NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024
ADI groups and associations<br />
MSA GB is proud of its long-standing links with many local ADI<br />
groups around the country. Many are small, dedicated to driver<br />
training in one city, town or even focused on a sole DTC, but all<br />
work tirelessly to improve the work of being an ADI. This can<br />
be in representing ADIs’ interests and views to your DVSA area<br />
manager, offering an ADI’s voice to local authorities and town<br />
planners, or by simply providing a network within which ADIs can<br />
find help and advice from their fellow instructors. After all, for<br />
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
many ADIs working as sole traders, being a driving instructor can<br />
be a lonely task: local ADI groups help stop it feeling quite so much<br />
that it’s ‘you against the world.’<br />
In every issue of <strong>Newslink</strong> will be publishing a list of local ADI<br />
groups and associations. We will only publish those groups who let<br />
us know they are happy to be included in our list, so if you would<br />
like to see your details here, please contact Peter Harvey at<br />
peter.harveymbe@msagb.com<br />
Aberdeen and District Driving Schools<br />
Association<br />
Secretary: Derek Young<br />
T: 07732 379396<br />
E: derekyoungcreel@aol.com<br />
Meets quarterly <strong>February</strong> (AGM), May,<br />
August and November.<br />
Cost £35 per annum<br />
Angus Driving Instructors Association<br />
Secretary: Frances Matthew<br />
T: 07703 664522<br />
E; francesmatthew@hotmail.co.uk<br />
This group holds six meeting per year<br />
(usually one week after the Scottish<br />
committee meeting)<br />
Cost £20 per year.<br />
Aylesbury Vale Driving Instructors<br />
Association<br />
Chairman: Sue Pusey<br />
T: 07780 606868<br />
E: AVDIA@btinternet.com<br />
Meetings are first Wednesday of every<br />
month at Church of the Holy Spirit,<br />
Camborne Avenue, Aylesbury, HP21 7UE.<br />
7.30pm start.<br />
Guest speaker every other month,<br />
refreshments provided.<br />
Annual fee £30. First meeting free as try<br />
before you buy.<br />
Birmingham Approved Driving Instructors<br />
Contact: Dave Allen<br />
T: 07939 627493<br />
E: Daveallen1999@googlemail.com<br />
Cornwall Association of Approved Driving<br />
Instructors (CAADI)<br />
Secretary: Rachael Lloyd-Phillips<br />
E: rachael@oneandallsom.co.uk<br />
This group meets via Zoom on the 3rd<br />
Monday every other month at 7.30pm.<br />
City of Dunfermline and District ADIs<br />
Secretary: Gail Pilch<br />
T: 07817 661450<br />
E: dunfermlineadisecretary@outlook.com<br />
Meetings are bi-monthly, at<br />
Dunfermline Northern Bowling Club, Dewar<br />
Street,<br />
Dunfermline KY12 8AD<br />
Glasgow & District Driving Instructors<br />
Association<br />
Contact: Bryan Phillips<br />
T: 07989 339 646<br />
E: bryan.phillips@hotmail.co.uk<br />
Meet on the last Sunday of the month,<br />
once every quarter, at<br />
The Fort Theatre, Kenmuir Ave,<br />
Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, G64 2DW.<br />
Joining fee: £15 per year<br />
Hinckley & District Driver Trainers<br />
Association (HDDTA)<br />
Chairman: Barrie Pates<br />
T: 07914 408 739<br />
E: haddta@yahoo.com<br />
Hull and East Riding Driving Instructors<br />
(HERDI)<br />
Contact: Andrew<br />
T: 07754542993<br />
E: herdi.rsa@gmail.com<br />
Lanark Driving Instructors<br />
Secretary: Sandra Smillie<br />
T: 07975 147150<br />
Meet quarterly from March which is our<br />
AGM<br />
South Warwickshire Association<br />
of ADIs (SWAADI)<br />
Contact: Andy Thomas<br />
T: 01926 717230 / 07900 673634<br />
E: artommo@hotmail.com<br />
We meet at 8.30pm every third Monday of<br />
the month except August and December<br />
(no meetings) at The Windmill Inn,<br />
Tachbrook Rd, Leamington Spa CV31 3DD,<br />
Rolls and snacks are available for a small<br />
charge and membership is £25 a year and<br />
includes a monthly newsletter and addition<br />
to a WhatsApp group for local issues/<br />
traffic updates, etc.<br />
Swindon Driving Instructors Association<br />
(Swindon DIA)<br />
Contact: Sandra Jill Richens<br />
T: 07795 006015<br />
E: SJRichens@btinternet.com<br />
Taunton Association Driving Instructors<br />
See Facebook page – search ‘Taunton ADI<br />
& PDI Forum’<br />
Wirral Association of Professional Driving<br />
Instructors (APDI)<br />
Chairman: Brian Murray<br />
T: 07810 094332<br />
Secretary: Richard Gillmore<br />
T: 07790 193138<br />
E: wirral-apdi@hotmail.co.uk<br />
W: wirralinstructors.co.uk<br />
Meet monthly on the first Thursday of the<br />
month (except January and August)<br />
at Heswall FC, Brimstage Road, Heswall,<br />
Wirral CH60 1XG<br />
Further information and to join, please visit<br />
the website.<br />
Why join a local association?<br />
Local news, local input – a local voice...<br />
If you want to see your local ADI group listed in this index,<br />
contact Peter Harvey on peterharveymbe@msagb.com<br />
NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024 27
Towards your CPD<br />
Changing driver behaviour<br />
needs us to introduce them<br />
to the ‘wheel of change’<br />
Steve Garrod considers how<br />
the ‘Wheel of Change’, invented<br />
by psychologists in the 1980s,<br />
can be used to influence driver<br />
behaviour for the better<br />
I have been fortunate to be involved in<br />
working on drink driving rehabilitation<br />
courses for the last year or so, and one of the<br />
elements that we discuss is the Wheel of<br />
Change.<br />
Developed in 1982 by psychologists James<br />
Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente, the Wheel<br />
of Change describes the stages how and why<br />
people change, either on their own or with<br />
the help of a professional. The model has<br />
been used to helping people to change their<br />
addictive behaviour, such as alcohol and drug<br />
dependency, losing weight and adopting a<br />
healthy diet, or to improve someone’s current<br />
situation.<br />
There is a reason it’s called a wheel and<br />
that is that people can spin through the<br />
process several times before finding a stable<br />
kind of change.<br />
Step by step<br />
The stages apply with any kind of change<br />
you try to make on your own, such as a New<br />
Year’s resolution, but it is often more helpful<br />
for the person’s mentor, or coach to<br />
understand these stages as well. (How many<br />
New Year resolutions work?) Regardless or<br />
not of if you try something on your own or<br />
with help, the stages remain the same. The<br />
most important thing is to have motivation,<br />
even when things go wrong.<br />
What I find interesting is how it can be used<br />
in training qualified drivers, whether it is as<br />
part of a fleet training day, someone looking<br />
to take an advanced test (part 2 ADI, for<br />
example) or someone undergoing remedial<br />
training after a ban or a road traffic incident.<br />
Prochaska & DiClemente’s<br />
Wheel of Change, 1982<br />
When trying any new skill there will always<br />
be a time when we revert to old habits, in this<br />
case it is called ‘relapse’. Without sufficient<br />
motivation it is easy to admit defeat, such as<br />
someone trying not to break the speed limit<br />
gets a ‘toot’ from a following motorist, which<br />
they perceive as them now driving too slowly<br />
and justifying whey they feel they need to<br />
speed.<br />
As you can see from the diagram above,<br />
there are various stages of the model (and<br />
the behaviour expected of the person<br />
experiencing change) and it may be useful to<br />
discus these to show you how we can use<br />
this for many of our own clients.<br />
Pre-contemplation: A logical starting point<br />
for the model. This is where a person may be<br />
unaware that there’s a problem and sees no<br />
intention to change behaviour, for example a<br />
driver who consistently breaks the speed<br />
limit and sees no reason to change their<br />
ways, because ‘everyone speeds’. This is<br />
known as ‘downward comparison’. It is when<br />
someone looks for an easy way out in an<br />
attempt to justify why they speed.<br />
Think of a delivery driver who says he<br />
must park on the pavement to do his<br />
deliveries or has to speed to get his deliveries<br />
completed on time. Dare I say this can also be<br />
the same with someone failing a Standards<br />
Check. I know many who have been<br />
unsuccessful and have not taken any training<br />
prior to the Standards Check, which then<br />
28 NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
The wheel of change can be used<br />
to challenge those who<br />
persistently speed and are happy<br />
to justify their actions<br />
places them on this part of the wheel.<br />
Contemplation: This is where the person<br />
becomes aware that there is a problem, but<br />
has made no commitment to change. This<br />
could be when they receive a speeding fine or<br />
following a near miss.<br />
In the first chapter of Roadcraft, it explains<br />
the importance of reflecting on any near<br />
misses and taking responsibility for our own<br />
actions and admitting we could do something<br />
to reduce the risk of such an incident being<br />
repeated.<br />
Following a training session the driver may<br />
be aware of the problems that cause them to<br />
drive too fast, such as not being able to<br />
recognise changing speed limits, so they now<br />
have the knowledge to put what they have<br />
learnt into practice when driving alone. It is<br />
the time when someone thinks about<br />
additional training.<br />
Preparation: The person is intent on taking<br />
action to correct the problem.<br />
This usually requires buy-in from the client<br />
(ie, the client is convinced that the change is<br />
good) and increased self-efficacy (ie, the<br />
client believes they can make change). This<br />
can follow a training session, for instance,<br />
someone can identify ways to drive within<br />
the speed limit.<br />
This is where a driver-trainer can play an<br />
essential role with careful coaching<br />
techniques. When we think of training<br />
qualified drivers we have to sell road safety to<br />
them, because it is unlikely they will be taking<br />
another driving test, therefore they need to<br />
see the benefits of driving in a way that<br />
saves them fuel, stress and points on their<br />
licence.<br />
Action: The person is in active modification of<br />
behaviour. This means they can drive in the<br />
same way when they are not on a training<br />
session. Something I often hear is when I<br />
train someone for the Part two test of driving<br />
ability is that they don’t get enough time to<br />
practice their driving in between training<br />
sessions, even though they drive to and from<br />
work each day, or they actually drive for<br />
work.<br />
The Action stage means that they are<br />
willing and understand the need to drive in<br />
“A person may be unaware that there’s a problem and sees no<br />
intention to change behaviour, for example a driver who<br />
consistently breaks the speed limit and sees no reason to change<br />
their ways, because ‘everyone speeds’. This is known as ‘downward<br />
comparison’. It is when someone looks for an easy way out in an<br />
attempt to justify why they break the law...”<br />
the new way at all times so that it becomes<br />
natural and not that they can ‘pull-it-out-ofthe-hat’<br />
on their Part 2 Driving test.<br />
Maintenance: Sustained change occurs and<br />
new behaviour replaces old ones. This can<br />
take more time than expected, but the<br />
person is now driving in the new way most, if<br />
not all of the time. This can be likened to a<br />
golfer learning how to restructure their<br />
swing, the new swing has become natural,<br />
even under pressure. This is the challenging<br />
phase and it means there has been no relapse<br />
into old ways.<br />
Relapse: The person falls back into old<br />
patterns of behaviour. This is quite common<br />
and many people find excuses for their<br />
relapse rather than accepting that things take<br />
time to change.<br />
An example could be that a company driver<br />
has attended a course following them gaining<br />
speeding points and has been doing well until<br />
he is under pressure and feels the need to<br />
resort to his old habits of speeding to make<br />
an appointment on time. The important thing<br />
is to get back onto the wheel before getting<br />
stuck at this stage.<br />
When we coach qualified drivers we need<br />
to explain that it is only natural to feel that<br />
they may be holding up other drivers, if they<br />
have been used to driving too fast in the past,<br />
and that the feeling will go away with enough<br />
practice.<br />
It’s important that whatever new skill is<br />
being learnt, we should not be too hard on<br />
ourselves for a relapse.<br />
If you have a few minutes, perhaps reflect<br />
on something you would like to change and<br />
see how this Wheel of Change could help you.<br />
NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024 29
Road safety news<br />
Euro road safety chief slams<br />
plans for young HGV riders<br />
The chief of the European Transport Safety<br />
Council (ETSC) has slammed EU politicians<br />
for planning to lower the age at which drivers<br />
can become HGV drivers to 18.<br />
It’s a proposal we reported on in the<br />
January issue of <strong>Newslink</strong>, but since then<br />
anger at the plan has grown among European<br />
road safety organisations.<br />
Encouraging teenagers to drive lorries<br />
would be a “dangerous experiment”, Antonio<br />
Avenoso said.<br />
He points out in a widely circulated article<br />
that since 2006, “the European Union has<br />
sensibly recommended a minimum age of 21<br />
for lorry drivers, and 24 for bus drivers.<br />
“But in recent years, the road transport<br />
industry has been pushing to lower these<br />
minimums as a cheap way of solving the<br />
recruitment crisis in the sector.”<br />
Avenoso says that “offering better<br />
conditions, more reasonable driving and rest<br />
times and less time away from home” would<br />
be better ways to cure any recruitment<br />
difficulties the road industry sector has.<br />
But “the road industry lobbying has<br />
worked. With the EU’s blessing, a number of<br />
member states have lowered the minimum<br />
age — usually to 18 for lorry drivers — as long<br />
as the youngsters have completed additional<br />
professional training in addition to the<br />
required practical and theory tests.<br />
“But the icing on the cake for the transport<br />
sector would be if all member states were<br />
required to do this, and teenagers could drive<br />
lorries across the continent.”<br />
But that won’t be enough, as the industry<br />
wants to go further still, “and allow 16 and<br />
17-year-olds to begin accompanied driving of<br />
lorries, to begin driving solo as soon as they<br />
hit 18.”<br />
Avenoso says he was disappointed that<br />
last month, the European Commission gave in<br />
to the pressure and published a proposed<br />
revision of rules on driving licences that<br />
would require member states to offer an<br />
accompanied driving scheme enabling<br />
17-year-olds to drive a lorry. The idea was<br />
backed by the European Parliament’s<br />
transport committee.<br />
“The industry declares that it would have<br />
no impact on road safety,” he says, “but it has<br />
provided no evidence to support its claim.”<br />
Indeed, the statistics on young lorry<br />
drivers are extremely worrying. Research by<br />
the German Insurance Association (GDV)<br />
shows that HGV drivers aged 18-20 caused a<br />
much higher number of collisions resulting in<br />
injury, in relation to the number of licences<br />
registered for that age group when compared<br />
to all other HGV driver age groups. ETSC has<br />
also analysed data from Finland and Poland<br />
— other countries that allow younger lorry<br />
drivers, and it shows the same thing.<br />
The idea must be stopped in its tracks<br />
“The science shows that inexperience is<br />
only one of multiple factors affecting young<br />
drivers,” Avenoso said. “Young people<br />
undergo significant biological and social<br />
changes between the ages of 15 and 25. Brain<br />
development is ongoing throughout this<br />
period and is not complete until well into the<br />
“Offering better conditions, more<br />
reasonable driving and rest<br />
times and less time away from<br />
home would be better ways to<br />
cure any recruitment difficulties<br />
the road industry sector has,<br />
rather than just hiring cheaper<br />
younger drivers”<br />
twenties. Consequently, when young people<br />
are learning to drive, their cognitive abilities<br />
are still not completely developed.<br />
“This affects their perception of, and<br />
attitude towards, risk. Cognitive development<br />
during puberty can lead to greater emotional<br />
instability and behaviour that is more<br />
assertive.<br />
“Thus, as road users, young people tend to<br />
display risky behaviours and have a<br />
diminished appreciation of the hazards they<br />
face.<br />
“Biological research shows that, at the age<br />
of 18, areas of the human brain responsible<br />
for the integration of information and impulse<br />
control are still developing.<br />
“Encouraging an estimated additional<br />
13,500 teenagers to start driving lorries<br />
would be a vast and dangerous experiment,<br />
leading to many more of the highest-risk<br />
group of drivers behind the wheel of vehicles<br />
that cause the most devastation when<br />
crashed.”<br />
He ended with an appeal to the European<br />
Parliament “to reflect on the implications of<br />
what would be a serious step backwards for<br />
road safety in Europe. Teenagers driving<br />
lorries is an idea that must be stopped in its<br />
tracks. ”<br />
• Antonio Avenoso in the Executive Director<br />
of the ETSC<br />
30 NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
Ireland considering<br />
alcolocks for offenders<br />
Ireland is looking at introducing alcohol<br />
interlocks in a bid to curb drink-driving.<br />
A key action of Ireland’s Government<br />
Road Safety Strategy is for tougher<br />
drink-driving penalties, with an alcohol<br />
interlock programme, supported by a<br />
drink-drive rehabilitation course for<br />
high-risk drink-drive offenders, one<br />
option being considered.<br />
The announcement came as new<br />
research from the Road Safety<br />
Authority (RSA) found that one in 10<br />
Irish motorists have driven after<br />
consuming alcohol in the last 12<br />
months.<br />
Of those who admitted to consuming<br />
alcohol, the incidence was higher<br />
among male drivers (14%), those who<br />
drive for work (14%), and those with a<br />
history of collision involvement (24%).<br />
Almost one in three (28%) of this<br />
group admitted to consuming two or<br />
more drinks on the last occasion they<br />
drove after consuming alcohol, in the<br />
last 12 months.<br />
Nearly three-quarters of motorists<br />
agreed that ‘most of my friends think<br />
driving under the influence of alcohol is<br />
unacceptable’. But in 2019 this figure<br />
was 85%, suggesting a concerning<br />
decline.<br />
Antonio Avenoso, Executive Director<br />
of ETSC said: “To reach the EU target to<br />
cut road deaths by 50% by 2030, it’s<br />
essential to tackle drink-driving.<br />
“Several EU countries are looking at<br />
alcohol ignition interlock devices for<br />
those prosecuted for drink-driving,<br />
including France and Poland. It is a trend<br />
in the right direction.”<br />
Public health body leads calls for<br />
tougher rules on new drivers<br />
Arthur Mynott<br />
MSA GB<br />
West Coast & Wales<br />
I must admit I was at a loss as to what to<br />
write about this month when, all of a sudden,<br />
I came across an article of great interest to<br />
me and I think will be to you also.<br />
It appeared on dailypost.co.uk which<br />
covers news from North Wales and was<br />
headlined Night-time curfews and passenger<br />
plan for young drivers in Wales.<br />
On reading this article it states that the<br />
National Health Institute for Wales wants a<br />
progressive licensing system for newly<br />
qualified drivers, basically a form of<br />
Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL).<br />
Public Health Wales (PHW) is<br />
recommending the introduction of GDL in the<br />
hope that it would save lives by imposing<br />
restrictions on newly qualified drivers under<br />
the age of 25 for the first six to 12 months.<br />
They have submitted their recommendations<br />
to a 12-week Welsh Government<br />
consultation on its new road safety strategy.<br />
The Association of British Insurers<br />
supports GDL, claiming that young drivers<br />
are a “major danger on the road” and the<br />
current licensing system is flawed as it allows<br />
young people to drive unaccompanied as<br />
soon as they pass their test.<br />
PHW said that younger drivers should be<br />
eased behind the wheel via progressive<br />
licensing while they gain experience and skills<br />
gradually over time.<br />
Extra restrictions on newly qualified<br />
drivers including night curfews and<br />
passenger limits were rejected by the UK<br />
Government in January 2022 because young<br />
drivers need to use their cars for work.<br />
I know there is more on this in this issue of<br />
<strong>Newslink</strong> (see page 8).<br />
Whatever your views, the outcome of the<br />
Welsh Government consultation will make<br />
interesting reading!<br />
Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults<br />
The MSA GB Safeguarding of Vulnerable<br />
Adults Webinar is booked for Sunday, 25th<br />
<strong>February</strong>, starting at 9.30am. There are still a<br />
couple of spaces available.<br />
See the panel below for more details, but<br />
the key point is that it will last about three<br />
hours and will be a really useful course that<br />
will give us really important information on<br />
how to handle societal issues affecting our<br />
young pupils, and how we can help them<br />
overcome them.<br />
To book for this event please contact me<br />
via my details below.<br />
Contact:<br />
Arthur Mynott,<br />
MSA GB West Coast & Wales Chairman<br />
arthur.mynott@yahoo.com<br />
Tel 07989 852274.<br />
Webinar to tackle key safeguarding issues for ADIs<br />
Arthur Mynott<br />
I have organised a webinar for MSA GB<br />
members across the country, on<br />
Safeguarding of Vulnerable Adults<br />
Awareness. It will be on Sunday, <strong>February</strong> 25,<br />
and held online, starting at 9.30am and<br />
running for three hours.<br />
The cost to attend will be £50.<br />
As we are working with vulnerable adults<br />
every day this course will help you to know<br />
what to do if you suspect any of our students<br />
may be having problems.<br />
As we teach our pupils, we get to know<br />
them quite well and they very often talk to us<br />
about their concerns. Sometimes we find it<br />
hard to give a considered reply or know how<br />
to respond, particularly if there are concerns.<br />
This course will help you deal with these<br />
sort of situations when they arise.<br />
There will be a CPD certificate for all<br />
attendees.<br />
If you would like to participate, then please<br />
reply asap using my contact details below.<br />
CONTACT<br />
Arthur Mynott, Chairman West Coast &<br />
Wales MSA GB<br />
Tel 07989852274<br />
arthur.mynott@msagb.com<br />
NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024 31
Area News<br />
The idea of young LGV drivers leaves<br />
me cold... as does trusting ‘perfect’ AI<br />
John Lomas<br />
MSA GB<br />
West Coast<br />
& Wales<br />
I read the article in January’s <strong>Newslink</strong>,<br />
which outlined how the EU was looking at<br />
allowing 17-year-olds to learn to drive<br />
LGVs, with interest.<br />
I understand that in the UK you can start<br />
to learn on Cat C and Cat D vehicles at 18<br />
though there are restrictions, such as<br />
having your Cat B licence for two years<br />
prior to starting on Cat C. I remember doing<br />
a piece a few years back about an 18-yearold<br />
who drove his, and his friends, own<br />
school bus because he was allowed to do<br />
certain types of short journey.<br />
If the EU does change its qualifying ages<br />
are we spared having those younger LGV<br />
drivers, or even the 16-year-old car drivers<br />
on our roads by virtue of our having left<br />
the EU?<br />
I hope so because that gives me another<br />
reason to cheer.<br />
There are some youngsters in rural areas<br />
of the ‘U S of A’ who can acquire a driver<br />
permit at 14 or so, but I am assured that<br />
they cannot come here on holiday and<br />
drive on our roads, because they have not<br />
reached our normal minimum driving age<br />
of 17 years. Hopefully that same regulation<br />
would apply to continental drivers who<br />
don’t fit with our age profiles.<br />
BMW or Thunderbirds<br />
Nice one Janet! In the last issue of<br />
<strong>Newslink</strong> she posed a picture question. If<br />
you recall it it had a red car on which<br />
appeared to be an Austin 7 which was<br />
licence built in Germany. The original<br />
licencee was Dixi later bought by BMW. I<br />
believe Nissan also built some but there is<br />
an argument as to whether they were<br />
licence built or reverse engineered copies.<br />
The pink Thunderbirds car – Lady<br />
Penelope’s FAB 1 – is of the type used in<br />
the later TV series. Rolls Royce/BMW<br />
refused to have anything to do with it so<br />
Ford was involved in making the full<br />
six-wheeled one, and there are design<br />
elements of the previous Thunderbird<br />
model in it. Back in the early 70s there was<br />
a full size model of the early FAB1 doing the<br />
rounds of Vauxhall garages so I assume<br />
they built that one.<br />
Artificial Intelligence<br />
Some mentioned Artifical Intelligence<br />
(AI) to me the other day, and it got me<br />
thinking about what it meant. Many people<br />
would like you to ONLY think of these<br />
definitions:<br />
Made by people, often as a copy of<br />
something natural: ie, Artificial Heart,<br />
artificial lake, artificial fur/sweetners/<br />
flowers.<br />
They would rather you didn’t think about<br />
this one:<br />
Not Sincere: i.e. Their cheerfulness seemed<br />
rather strained and artificial.<br />
However, as driving instructors you are<br />
working in a hazardous environment and we<br />
have seen far too many examples over the<br />
years of computer systems being thrust<br />
upon us by supposedly knowledgable<br />
authorities/agencies. There are many in our<br />
number who will remember the Capita fiasco<br />
when DSA (might have been DVSA) used that<br />
company for a new ‘more efficient’ booking<br />
system.<br />
Even now, with the Post Office computer<br />
fiasco ongoing, people are still asking us to<br />
trust computer algorithms and the<br />
‘intelligentsia’ who write them. Also never<br />
believe anyone who tells you that systems<br />
cannot be accessed remotely; any computer<br />
programmer who hasn’t built a backdoor into<br />
a system has failed to do his/her job properly.<br />
I have no doubt that you will have had<br />
pupils conned by fake DVSA websites when<br />
looking to book their tests. That is just<br />
another example of how unreliable the<br />
internet is and so called Artificial Intelligence<br />
will only make it less reliable.<br />
At the moment DVSA is giving successful<br />
test candidates a paper certificate, although<br />
the DVSA to DVLA admin is being done by<br />
electronic means for the issuing of the new<br />
full driving licences. BUT at some time in the<br />
future they will stop doing that. If you doubt<br />
me, think about how many organisations<br />
including government bodies are clamouring<br />
for you to go paperless.<br />
When they do go paperless what is going<br />
32 NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
<strong>February</strong>’s strange sign<br />
Left, yet another strange sign. Do you have<br />
any ideas of what could possibly be the<br />
purpose of a road sign which says ‘Sign Not In<br />
Use?’ I have seen signs which are used<br />
occasionally but they are normally hinged<br />
across the middle so are blank usually, and<br />
only visible when required; this does not<br />
appear to be such a sign.<br />
to happen when the inevitable happens and<br />
someone’s pass record doesn’t get<br />
transferred correctly to the DVLA,<br />
particularly if DVSA can’t find the record in its<br />
database either?<br />
Couldn’t happen, I hear you say. Really?<br />
Back in the late 1980s/early ’90s I knew<br />
an instructor who, after moving home,<br />
couldn’t find his driving licence. No problem,<br />
just pay the fee and get a new one, except<br />
that when he contacted Swansea they<br />
couldn’t find his records (and this was in the<br />
days of hard copies, not electronic bits).<br />
The DSA, as it was then, knew he must<br />
have a licence, after all they had inspected it<br />
at the time he took his ADI tests. But none of<br />
that mattered. After a lot of heartache he<br />
actually had to get a new provisional and take<br />
an L-test to get his full licence back.<br />
Amazingly the DSA actually permitted him<br />
to carry on instructing all the while.<br />
Hastings and Bexhill<br />
But would everything be handled so<br />
smoothly if it is a computer glitch in the<br />
future? I suggest that past experiences with<br />
CAPITA, Fujitsu and the Post Office, say it<br />
wouldn’t.<br />
See-through truck (photo on facing page)<br />
Have you ever thought, when following a<br />
large vehicle, “I wonder what is in front of it?”<br />
Well, in Moscow, someone has turned the<br />
back of a truck into an LCD screen with a feed<br />
from a CCTV camera at the front of the truck.<br />
I saw it on a FaceBook reels thread and took a<br />
screen grab of it.<br />
But having seen a picture of it I have<br />
started to wonder whether a following driver<br />
might get so enthralled watching the screen<br />
that he might fail to notice if the truck<br />
suddenly stopped.<br />
What do you think?<br />
CCTV<br />
There have been a number of vandalism<br />
attacks, painting keying and tyre piercing, on<br />
4x4s and SUVs which are being targeted by<br />
people claiming to be environmentalists.<br />
The police have been quite forthright in<br />
asking for CCTV footage from whatever<br />
sources are available, including doorbell cams.<br />
These requests have got me quite puzzled<br />
as the residents in the housing scheme<br />
where I am now living have been told in no<br />
uncertain terms that any CCTV is only<br />
permitted to show activity within the<br />
curtilage of our properties, and that includes<br />
doorbell cameras which cannot be used<br />
because our doors are our boundaries.<br />
Would the police be able to use evidence<br />
from the CCTVs that they are seeking? After<br />
all it would surely be tainted evidence having<br />
come from an illegal source. Is anybody<br />
providing such footage to the police laying<br />
themselves open to prosecution for improper<br />
use of CCTV?<br />
This might seem a trivial matter, but many<br />
of you have dashcams in your tuition cars, the<br />
footage from which can be vital in case of a<br />
crash involving your vehicle. What is the legal<br />
position if your footage shows a third party’s<br />
crash. Does it have the same protection that<br />
you have as a witness in person?<br />
Neil Palmer writes... On Monday, January 22, driving instructors from across Hastings and Bexhill enjoyed an<br />
evening out at a local Indian restaurant. It was a great night, with wonderful food and some lively conversation.<br />
There were plenty of great anecdotes shared alongside the normal chatter you’d expect from a group of ADIs<br />
– L-test waiting times and potholes!<br />
NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024 33
Area News<br />
Too fast, or not fast enough?<br />
Janet<br />
Stewart<br />
London & the<br />
South East<br />
“Driving on an empty<br />
motorway, sticking to<br />
70mph, can seem absurd...”<br />
Driving too fast remains the biggest cause of<br />
crashes and the major contributor to fatalities<br />
on our roads.<br />
Many people, particularly driving<br />
instructors, would say that there are times<br />
when 20mph is too fast, but equally that<br />
70mph is sometimes too slow. So what, if<br />
anything, do we need to do?<br />
I am reminded of Cato who began every<br />
speech in the forum with Carthago delenda<br />
est – forever calling for the destruction of<br />
Carthage. I am forever saying it will all be<br />
alright once everyone is in a self-driving<br />
vehicle. I do, however, realise that I am being<br />
as tedious as Cato, despite the fact that<br />
Carthage was eventually destroyed by the<br />
Romans.<br />
According to RoSPA, crashes with<br />
pedestrians resulting in a fatality drop from<br />
20 per cent at 30mph to 2.5 per cent at<br />
20mph. For 2021/22 there were 2.3 million<br />
fixed penalty notices issued for speeding.<br />
This is the highest on record but may be<br />
skewed by Covid and lockdown. Roads were<br />
far less busy and, therefore, the ‘speeders’<br />
felt safer and may well have thought they<br />
were less likely to be caught. Nonetheless, it<br />
is a staggeringly high figure.<br />
Has the 20mph limit in Wales been a<br />
success? Is it too early to tell? (see page 8 for<br />
more on this). What seems clear is that<br />
drivers struggle to stick to a speed limit that<br />
they think is inappropriate or just plain silly.<br />
Is it possible to individually monitor and<br />
assess every road in the country and then<br />
give it a suitable limit? Well, hardly! Lee<br />
Puffett of Which? says “Lower speed limits<br />
should be considered when the road narrows<br />
and twists. There is no point introducing a<br />
20mph limit on a wide open country road, so<br />
a sensible evidence-based approach is<br />
required”.<br />
Unfortunately, yes, until such time as<br />
drivers assess every road, driving condition,<br />
weather and their own ability and make<br />
appropriate judgements, Carthago dele ... or,<br />
as my mother would have said, “When<br />
Nelson gets his eye back”.<br />
Dual carriageway<br />
While driving back from Suffolk a few<br />
weeks ago there was a stretch of dual<br />
carriageway temporarily marked with a<br />
50mph speed limit. There were no road works<br />
going on. I was overtaken by everyone – and I<br />
do mean everyone – while my husband<br />
squirmed next to me, but he agreed that I<br />
was doing the right thing. Clearly, the locals<br />
knew that there was nothing happening and,<br />
in fact, I was causing a danger by obeying the<br />
law. So, what to do?<br />
Driving back from Scotland on the M6 on a<br />
beautiful moonlit night on an empty road,<br />
sticking to 70mph, does seem absurd, but I do<br />
(mostly). In various places I have travelled to<br />
in the past year or so, two limits are shown<br />
– one for dry weather and another for wet or<br />
icy. No chance of we Brits complying with<br />
“In various places I have<br />
driven, two limits are shown<br />
– one for dry weather and<br />
another for wet or icy. No<br />
chance of we Brits complying<br />
with that sort of faff – trying to<br />
decide whether drizzle is or is<br />
not rain...”<br />
that sort of faff – trying to decide whether<br />
drizzle is or is not rain.<br />
Worrying trend<br />
A survey undertaken some months ago of<br />
young men aged 17-24 found that only 43%<br />
thought speeding was unacceptable. Dr<br />
Gemma Briggs, Professor of Applied<br />
Cognitive Psychology, said “Most drivers<br />
consider themselves to be ‘better than<br />
average’. They feel that while other drivers<br />
should not speed, their own increased skill<br />
means that they can handle a bit of extra<br />
speed”.<br />
Consequently, every journey completed<br />
without incident reinforces and confirms that<br />
their speeding is acceptable.<br />
I end where I began. We know that<br />
increased technology in cars is having a<br />
positive effect on road safety simply because<br />
some cars will themselves avoid crashing into<br />
each other. However, this may lead some<br />
drivers to rely too heavily on the tech their<br />
vehicle has.<br />
There are, too, many people who think that<br />
their own skill exceeds anything that the car<br />
can do for them and will not want to trust the<br />
car’s capabilities.<br />
For all our sakes, and that of the planet, we<br />
need to move to self-driving all electric<br />
vehicles just as quickly as we can.<br />
34 NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
Experienced professional to<br />
lead safeguarding course<br />
Paul Harmes<br />
MSA GB Area 2 Deputy Chairman<br />
MSA GB Area 2 (East Coast) is hosting a<br />
safeguarding training event on April 4.<br />
To be run online, it will start at 10am and<br />
run until 3pm, with a break in the middle at a<br />
suitable time for lunch.<br />
The discounted cost to MSA members is<br />
£45 and to non-members £70.<br />
All participants will receive a safeguarding<br />
certificate for completing Level 1 and a work<br />
booklet. The course counts as CPD, too.<br />
Safeguarding is how we can protect<br />
children, young people and vulnerable adults<br />
from abuse or neglect by the actions, or lack<br />
of actions, of another person. In order to<br />
safeguard and protect persons from abuse or<br />
neglect, we need to learn how to identify<br />
vulnerable individuals and take necessary<br />
steps to stop abuse and neglect.<br />
This qualification is suitable for all persons<br />
and will provide an understanding of<br />
safeguarding which can be used in a<br />
workplace, activity group or any instance<br />
where a person comes into contact with<br />
children or adults at risk.<br />
The qualification provides learners with the<br />
knowledge to identify a safeguarding<br />
concern, record a disclosure and report to the<br />
appropriate person.<br />
TO ENROL<br />
Click here to enrol<br />
on the course<br />
When you enrol we will need your full name<br />
and email address to send you the joining link,<br />
which will be sent nearer the event.<br />
About our course leader<br />
The course will be lead by Neil Wightma.<br />
Neil is a driving mentor who is dedicated to<br />
helping individuals achieve their full potential.<br />
As an ORDIT (Official Register of Driving<br />
Instructor Training) registered instructor<br />
trainer, Neil is recognised for his expertise<br />
and qualifications in training driving<br />
instructors.<br />
Furthermore, Neil is a safeguarding<br />
instructor, which indicates his commitment<br />
to ensuring the safety and well-being of his<br />
students.<br />
Safeguarding instructors play a crucial role<br />
in educating driving instructors about child<br />
protection, vulnerable adult safeguarding, and<br />
other related topics.<br />
Neil takes pride in his work and is<br />
passionate about assisting others in reaching<br />
their highest potential.<br />
Hope to see you there.<br />
ADI training to teach pupils with Special Needs<br />
6 Hour Courses, Online One-To-One Training for Driving Instructors<br />
From communication problems to behavioural difficulties, these courses are designed to help you as<br />
a driving instructor. Learn to support all your pupils, in your car, all the way to test!<br />
Courses available:<br />
n Introduction to Neurodiversity in Your Car<br />
n Introduction to the Autistic Spectrum<br />
n Introduction to ADHD<br />
n Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia<br />
and Irlen’s Syndrome<br />
n Anxiety and Confidence Building<br />
in Lessons<br />
n Anxiety and the Driving Test<br />
n Communication and Special Needs<br />
n Setting and Achieving Goals with<br />
Neurodiverse People<br />
n Sensory Sensitivity and Related Issues<br />
n Neurodiversity and the Driving Test<br />
n Improving Low Self-Esteem<br />
n Challenging Situations and Special Needs<br />
Learn all about a subject in SIX hours! No matter where you are, you can learn<br />
online, with live one-to-one training delivered by Julia Malkin through Messenger<br />
or WhatsApp, with hours to suit you.<br />
£200 for 6 hours of live, one-to-one training in your chosen subject – a small<br />
deposit secures your place.<br />
Delivered by Dr Julia S. A. Malkin, MBE<br />
MA, BA (Hons), FdA (MVCO), Dip. DI, LCGI, MInstMTD, FARRM<br />
What Julia’s<br />
clients said:<br />
‘Absolutely amazing<br />
trainer for driving<br />
instructors with SEN<br />
pupils’ - H.S.M.<br />
‘I cannot recommend<br />
Julia highly enough.<br />
What an experience’ –<br />
K.G.<br />
Winner of the Prince<br />
Michael International<br />
Road Safety Award for<br />
Innovation 2012 and<br />
Intelligent Instructor<br />
Special Needs Provider<br />
Award 2019<br />
Contact Julia for further details and to book via 07761 064 694 or julia.mbe2011@gmail.com<br />
NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024 35
Special feature<br />
The Community Off-road<br />
Transport Action Group was<br />
formed in 2004, using owners’<br />
4x4s to create an impromptu<br />
rescue service in rural areas.<br />
ALAN GRAY of the Inverurie<br />
branch of MSA GB, reports<br />
When the going gets tough...<br />
COTAG gets going<br />
The Community Off-road Transport Action<br />
Group 4x4 Response team – more<br />
commonly known as COTAG – is a citizen<br />
emergency service, offering help to the<br />
public and supporting the official emergency<br />
services and the public sector.<br />
It is the brainchild of a group of like-minded<br />
4x4 owners from the Aberdeenshire &<br />
Morayshire region of Scotland who got<br />
together in 2004 with the aim of providing<br />
4x4 logistical assistance to Category One<br />
responders and members of the local<br />
community within the north-east of Scotland.<br />
COTAG volunteers combine their love of<br />
their 4x4s and the desire to help the<br />
community at large wherever there is a need<br />
for a sturdy off-roader, eg, in adverse<br />
weather, floods, or anywhere where an<br />
off-road capability is required.<br />
COTAG currently has 34 volunteers, most<br />
with their own 4x4 vehicles, but not all, as the<br />
ever-expanding team includes a number of<br />
administration and control staff, who do not<br />
necessarily own a suitable vehicle but have a<br />
desire to assist in any way they can.<br />
A typical COTAG deployment will be at<br />
times of adverse weather such as heavy<br />
snow or flooding.<br />
Duties can include the movement of NHS<br />
staff for both care in the community and<br />
critical care services, to and from the two<br />
major hospitals in the region. Members also<br />
get involved with the transportation of vital<br />
blood samples for analysis during critical<br />
periods, and have transported dialysis and<br />
other critical treatment patients from rural<br />
areas to their treatment centres.<br />
As you would possibly expect, one of their<br />
tasks is helping motorists stranded by<br />
adverse weather. COTAG can be requested by<br />
Police Scotland to provide vehicles/drivers to<br />
transport police officers, when conditions<br />
dictate that only properly equipped 4x4<br />
vehicles are capable of making progress.<br />
Teams can be called to deliver vital<br />
supplies, such as deploying sandbags or<br />
transporting supplies such as bottled water<br />
to remote rural communities when normal<br />
utilities have been interrupted.<br />
How it’s organised<br />
COTAG 4X4 Response is a registered<br />
Scottish charity and relies on charitable<br />
donations for the bulk of its funding. While<br />
volunteers will be recompensed for their fuel<br />
if called out by any of our other services,<br />
COTAG will quite often be ahead of the game,<br />
proactively deploying in potential trouble<br />
spots to provide support within the<br />
community. Volunteers are unpaid and the<br />
bulk of their equipment has to be funded by<br />
themselves.<br />
COTAG has Memorandums of Understanding<br />
with a number of public agencies,<br />
including Police Scotland, Aberdeenshire &<br />
Moray Councils including Health and Social<br />
Care, NHS Grampian and NHS24. The team is<br />
also registered in the Scottish Fire & Rescue<br />
Service Community Asset Register, and<br />
senior COTAG managers represent 4x4<br />
Response support at the North East Scotland<br />
Local Resilience Partnership (LRP) meetings<br />
during times of local and national emergency.<br />
The group also assists at many community<br />
events where there is a need for 4x4<br />
36 NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
Some of the COTAG team with their 4x4s<br />
Out in all weathers...<br />
support, such as off-road marathons and ultra<br />
marathons and a number of mountain bike<br />
events. These events often take place on land<br />
owned by some of the major Highlands<br />
landowners.<br />
All COTAG members are volunteers who<br />
own and maintain their vehicles at their own<br />
cost. While COTAG provide most of the PPE<br />
and other items such as radios, beacons and<br />
first aid equipment, other additional items are<br />
purchased, fitted and paid for by the volunteers<br />
themselves which can, in some cases, amount<br />
to over £1,000 of personal expenditure.<br />
In order to become a fully operational team<br />
member, an extensive training programme<br />
needs to be undertaken which can take up to<br />
a year to complete. COTAG is very fortunate to<br />
have its own dedicated 360-acre training<br />
ground near Alford, and members train every<br />
month throughout the year.<br />
To become a fully trained operational<br />
member the volunteers have to prove that<br />
their vehicles are legal and safe to drive, and<br />
they have to pass an initial assessment in<br />
offroad driving. All aspects of off-road driving<br />
are developed over time during monthly<br />
training and they then have to pass a final<br />
off- road driving assessment.<br />
All volunteers must also have - or take –<br />
further qualifications such as IAM Advanced<br />
Driving; First Aid at Work including using a<br />
Defib and Epi pen; using a VHF radio,<br />
navigation and advanced off-road driving<br />
skills, including deep water training.<br />
Some of the above is assessed by the<br />
resident experts within the membership. A<br />
number of the team has recently attained<br />
British Off-road Driving Association Higher<br />
Off-road Driving qualification. The intention is<br />
to train all members to this level over the<br />
coming year.<br />
Helping the emergency<br />
services<br />
COTAG 4X4 Response is fortunate that<br />
Forestry and Land Scotland allows the team<br />
to train within some of their forests, utilising<br />
the demanding terrain to hone their off-road<br />
driving skills and in specialist areas such as<br />
navigation, deep water and steep ascent/<br />
descent driving.<br />
Initially, the main form of inter-team<br />
communication was by VHF radio. However,<br />
COTAG is always keen to embrace new<br />
technology and has recently introduced<br />
‘Broadnet’, a modern digital radio comms<br />
system that utilises mobile phone networks.<br />
This system is much more efficient and allows<br />
for a greater range without reliance on signal<br />
repeaters. Broadnet also supports a digital<br />
dashboard allowing COTAG dispatchers to<br />
manage each response request, including the<br />
ability to track each volunteer’s progress<br />
during their mission.<br />
In support of their operations COTAG has<br />
two specialised trailers. One is a box van type<br />
which has been converted to a<br />
communications hub and is fitted with VHF,<br />
Broadnet and broadband communications<br />
equipment with its own standalone power<br />
source. The equipment is extensively used in<br />
support of the previously mentioned off-road<br />
events and ensures event organisers can<br />
provide the required safety cover reassurance<br />
for all involved.<br />
The second trailer has purpose-built<br />
off-road capability and is designed to carry<br />
goods such as sandbags, palleted bottled<br />
water or water-filled IBC for use by Scotland<br />
Fire and Rescue Service wildfire activities.<br />
Funding has recently been secured to allow<br />
the team to further improve their capabilities<br />
by introducing Starlink, a broadband satellite<br />
internet system. This further enhances the<br />
team’s communications capability and can be<br />
utilised by community hubs, utility companies<br />
and other resilience partners during power<br />
outages, etc. The system is completely mobile<br />
and COTAG can deploy up to six units to<br />
whichever area is in need and during times of<br />
harsh conditions.<br />
It is worth noting that none of the support<br />
provided by COTAG volunteers would be<br />
possible without the support of the<br />
volunteer’s families, who can often not see<br />
their loved one for some lengthy periods.<br />
NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024 37
Members’ discounts<br />
Members’ discounts and benefits<br />
MSA GB has organised a number of exclusive discounts and offers for members. More details can be found on our website at www.msagb.com<br />
and click on the Member Discounts logo. To access these benefits, simply log in and click on the Member discount logo, then click the link at the<br />
bottom of the page to allow you to obtain your special discounts.<br />
Please note, non-members will be required to join the association first. Terms and conditions apply<br />
Access to a replacement dual<br />
control car after a crash<br />
EXCLUSIVE DEAL FOR MSA GB MEMBERS<br />
MSA GB has partnered with AI Insurance Solutions Limited to provide members with a<br />
replacement dual controlled car when things don’t quite go to plan.<br />
If you lose your dual-controlled tuition car in a crash, MSA GB’s new partnership with AI<br />
Insurance Solutions Ltd will have you back on the road and teaching in no time.<br />
Our exclusive agreement with AI Solutions Ltd will supply a replacement vehicle to you<br />
should the need arise – at no cost. Contact The AI Insurance Solutions Emergency (AIIS)<br />
assistance line on 01945 425211 for more details, or see pg 26.<br />
Ford updates special<br />
members’ offer<br />
Ford has partnered with MSA GB to offer exclusive<br />
discounts on all car and commercial Ford vehicles.<br />
Take a look at the Ford website www.ford.co.uk<br />
for vehicle and specification information. See the<br />
Members’ Benefits page on the MSA GB website<br />
and follow the Ford link for more details..<br />
Please note these discounts are only available to<br />
MSA GB members and their immediate family if they<br />
are members who pay annually.<br />
ACCOUNTANCY<br />
MSA GB’s Recommended<br />
Accountancy Service, FBTC<br />
offers a specialist service for<br />
ADIs. It has been established<br />
over 20 years ago and covers the<br />
whole of the UK. The team takes pride in<br />
providing unlimited advice and support to ensure<br />
the completion of your tax return is hassle free,<br />
giving you peace of mind.<br />
MSA GB OFFER:: FBTC will prepare you for<br />
Making Tax Digital and will be providing HMRC<br />
compliant software to all clients very soon.<br />
Join now to receive three months free.<br />
ADVANCE DRIVING<br />
AND RIDING<br />
As the UK’s largest road safety<br />
charity, IAM RoadSmart is<br />
proud to partner with the<br />
Motor Schools Association<br />
GB. Working together to promote and<br />
enhance motorists skills on our roads.<br />
MSA GB OFFER:: Get 10% off Advanced courses;<br />
visit www.iamroadsmart.com/course and<br />
use the code MSA10 at the checkout or call<br />
0300 303 1134 to book.<br />
BREATHALYSER KITS<br />
Protect yourself and your pupils with a<br />
personal breathalyser. We’ve teamed up with<br />
AlcoSense, the award-winning range of<br />
personal breathalysers, to offer an exclusive<br />
discount to all MSA GB members. A personal<br />
breathalyser takes the guesswork out of<br />
whether there’s residual alcohol in your<br />
system (or that of your learner driver pupil)<br />
the morning after the night before.<br />
MSA GB OFFER:: 10% off any AlcoSense product<br />
(excluding single-use disposables) – from the<br />
entry-level Lite 2 (£44.99) to the top-ofthe-range<br />
Ultra (£249.00).<br />
CAR AIR FRESHENERS / CANDLES<br />
Mandles’ handmade scented collections use<br />
quality ingredients to ensure superior scent<br />
throw from all its candles and<br />
diffusers. Check our our website<br />
for further details.<br />
MSA GB OFFER:: Special discount<br />
of 20% on all car air fresheners<br />
and refills.<br />
CARD PAYMENTS<br />
MSA GB and SumUp believe<br />
in supporting motor vehicle<br />
trainers of all shapes and sizes.<br />
Together we are on a mission to<br />
ease the operational workload of<br />
our members by providing them with the ability<br />
to take card payments on-the-go or in their<br />
respective training centres. SumUp readers<br />
are durable and user-friendly. Their paperless<br />
onboarding is quick and efficient. Moreover,<br />
their offer comes with no monthly subscription,<br />
no contractual agreement, no support fees,<br />
no hidden fees – just the one-off cost for the<br />
reader coupled with lowest on the market<br />
transaction fee.<br />
DISABILITY AIDS<br />
Driving shouldn’t just be a<br />
privilege for people without<br />
disabilities; it should be<br />
accessible for all and there’s never been an easier<br />
time to make this the case! MSA GB members<br />
can take advantage of BAS’s Driving Instructor<br />
Packages which include a range of adaptations at<br />
a discounted price, suitable for teaching disabled<br />
learner drivers.<br />
MSA GB OFFER:: Special Driving Instructor<br />
Packages for MSA GB members.<br />
FUEL CARDS<br />
Save up to 10p per litre of fuel with Fuel Card<br />
Services. Fuel Card Services offers a large<br />
choice of networks from leading brands, such<br />
as BP, Shell, Esso and UK Fuels so you can<br />
decide which networks you wish to include on<br />
your business account.<br />
MSA GB OFFER:: An MSA GB fuel card will save<br />
you up to 10p per litre.<br />
HEALTH / FINANCE COVER<br />
The Motor Schools Association of Great<br />
Britain has agreed with HMCA to<br />
offer discounted rates for medical<br />
plans, dental plan, hospital cash<br />
plans, personal accident plan,<br />
travel plan, income protection<br />
and vehicle breakdown products.<br />
MSA GB OFFER:: HMCA only offer<br />
medical plans to membership groups<br />
and can offer up to a 40% discount off the<br />
underwriter’s standard rates. This is a<br />
comprehensive plan which provides generous<br />
cash benefits for surgery and other charges.<br />
To get the full story of the<br />
discounts available, see<br />
www.msagb.com<br />
38 NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024
For all the latest news, see www.msagb.com<br />
PUPIL INSURANCE<br />
Join the Collingwood<br />
Instructor Programme and<br />
refer your pupils for learner<br />
insurance.<br />
MSA GB OFFER:: MSA GB OFFER:: £50 for<br />
your first referral and £20 for all additional<br />
referrals.<br />
PSYCHOLOGY TRAINING<br />
Confident Drivers has the only<br />
website created especially for<br />
drivers offering eight different<br />
psychological techniques<br />
commonly used to reduce stress and nerves.<br />
MSA GB OFFER:: One month free on a monthly<br />
subscription plan using coupon code.<br />
PUPIL SOURCING<br />
Go Roadie provides students<br />
when they need them, with all<br />
the details you need before you<br />
accept. Control your own pricing,<br />
discounts and set your availability<br />
to suit you. Full diary? No cost!<br />
MSA GB OFFER:: Introductory offer of 50% off<br />
the first three students they accept.<br />
QUICKBOOKS<br />
50% Discount on two<br />
packages for MSA GB<br />
members<br />
Quickbooks is offering an online<br />
50% discount for MSA GB members on two of<br />
their premium accounting packages.<br />
Essentials Package For small businesses<br />
working with suppliers. Manage VAT and<br />
Income Tax with up to three users.<br />
Plus For businesses managing projects,<br />
stock, VAT, and Income Tax. Up to five users.<br />
The packages are contract-free throughout<br />
with no cancellation fee. This exclusive<br />
member offer can only be secured by<br />
contacting our MSA GB representative at<br />
Quickbooks - Ollie Nobes, on: 07723 507 026<br />
or email: Ollie_Nobes@intuit.com quoting:<br />
**MSAGB**<br />
To get the full story of the<br />
discounts available, see<br />
www.msagb.com<br />
Membership offer<br />
Welcome, new ADIs<br />
We’ve a special introductory offer for you!<br />
Congratulations on passing your<br />
Part 3 and becoming an ADI.<br />
There’s an exciting career<br />
open to you from today,<br />
one that’s alive with<br />
possibilities as you build<br />
your skills, your client base<br />
and your income.<br />
But for all the excitement,<br />
it can also be challenging;<br />
who can you turn to if you’re<br />
struggling to get over key driver<br />
training issues to a pupil? Where can<br />
you go to soak up advice from more<br />
experienced ADIs? Who will help you if you<br />
are caught up in a dispute with the DVSA? If<br />
the worst happens, who can you turn to for<br />
help, advice and to fight your corner?<br />
The answer is the Motor Schools<br />
Association of Great Britain – MSA GB for<br />
short.<br />
We are the most senior association<br />
representing driving instructors in Great<br />
Britain. Establised in 1935 when the first<br />
driving test was introduced, MSA GB has<br />
been working tirelessly ever since on<br />
behalf of ordinary rank and file ADIs.<br />
We represent your interests and your<br />
views in the corridors of power, holding<br />
regular meetings with senior officials<br />
from the DVSA and the Department for<br />
Transport to make sure the ADIs’ voice is<br />
heard.<br />
SPECIAL OFFER<br />
Join MSA GB today!<br />
SPECIAL OFFER: Join for just £60 with your<br />
PI & PL insurance included immediately!<br />
No joining fee - saving you £25<br />
Call 01787 221020 quoting discount code<br />
<strong>Newslink</strong>, or join online at www.msagb.com<br />
We’d like you to<br />
join us<br />
We’re there to support you<br />
every step of the way.<br />
Our office-based staff are<br />
there, five days a week,<br />
from 9am-5pm, ready to<br />
answer your call and help<br />
you in any way.<br />
In addition our network of<br />
experienced office holders and<br />
regional officers can offer advice over<br />
the phone or by email.<br />
But membership of the MSA GB doesn’t<br />
just mean we’re there for you if you’re<br />
in trouble. We also offer a nationwide<br />
network of regular meetings, seminars and<br />
training events, an Annual Conference, and<br />
a chance to participate in MSA GB affairs<br />
through our democratic structure<br />
In addition, you’ll get a free link to our<br />
membership magazine <strong>Newslink</strong> every<br />
month, with all the latest news, views,<br />
comment and advice you’ll need to become<br />
a successful driving instructor.<br />
You’ll also automatically receive<br />
professional indemnity insurance worth up<br />
to £5m and £10m public liability insurance<br />
free of charge.<br />
This is essential legal protection covering<br />
you against legal claims ariving from your<br />
tuition.<br />
NEWSLINK n FEBRUARY 2024 39