100 signatures reached
To: Jessie Norman MP Under Secretary of State for the DfT
Stop putting School Childrens lives at risk
Stop the cut price illegal transport that all local authorities are using to transport our children to school before there's any more serious injuries or worse.
The DfT have, since EU rule 1071/2009 came into force in 2011, (this amended the 1985 transport act) given advice in their guidance to transport providers that would allow some bus & passenger transport providers to carry passengers against the law, by having drivers that had not passed a test to drive the vehicle & have not passed the Drivers Certificate of Professional competence (DCPC) this is being done under a permit system that was put in place 40 years ago for Scouts, Guides & Church's to use for their charities .
The DfT has had an infraction notice served on them by the EU. This complaint has been heard by the Transport Select Committee chair Lillian Greenwood, but the DfT are still ignoring the safety of our children, this is only so Local Authorities can get transport on the cheap, we need the government to take action & stop this law breaking instead of trying to find ways to circumnavigate them.
Why is this important?
This is important, we hear of deaths on our roads all the time, the M40 school bus crash lost the lives of all the children plus the unlicensed teacher that was driving after teaching for a day, Belt Up School Kids (BUSK) have campaigned for a change for years, now the law says it must be done, the EU have already said that the UK are facing a very heavy fine for not complying with the law, so there will be no cost saving.
Private school children's parents pay fees for this service & don't realise that they have a unqualified driver & worse than that, the vehicle would have no insurance cover when the insurance company find out it 's driver has no licence, we need to protect our next generation. In state schools you now find community transport vehicles & unlicensed drivers for those vehicles performing this transport on a cut price basis so the LA can get the transport within their budget, this is since the austerity measures made at the same time as the EU law change.
