DVSA launches SfL as accrediting body for B+E scheme

Towing trailers safely has become an important issue, and the government has taken action to help drivers be competent in towing safely. To help motorists overcome this obstacle, the DVSA has launched a Trailer Training Accreditation Scheme as part of their plan to help motorists develop their skills, knowledge, and competence in safe trailer towing.

Persuading drivers to obtain training from accredited training centres whether they are towing for the first time and in need of practical training will help keep Britain’s roads safe.

Baroness Vere of Norbition, Minister for Roads explains:

“Towing safely is an important issue and I urge drivers to access the training to help keep Britain’s roads safe. The new accreditation scheme will help them to get targeted training and improve their driving skills. I want to thank the trailer training industry, stakeholders and our partners for their commitment and support in developing this training scheme over the last few months”.

The National Council

To help monitor the scheme, the DVSA established the National Council for Accredited Trailer Training (NCATT) to provide a forum on how people responded to the training they received from accredited training centres.

Its members are the Department for Transport (DfT), the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and the Accrediting Bodies.

The Accrediting Bodies

The Accrediting Bodies are responsible for setting up accreditation for training centres to deliver trailer towing training.

The DVSA have formally recognised three accrediting bodies:

  • Skills for Logistics
  • *The Safe Towing Scheme
  • The National Register of LGV Instructors

*(Jointly run by the National Trailer and Towing Association and Diamond Advanced Motorist)

Find out more about our accredited B+E members.

Accredited Training Providers

Training centres & instructors that have been accredited will provide professional training to motorists and follow the national syllabus for car and trailer towing.

They will benefit from being part of a scheme which the government, the accrediting bodies and industry will regularly promote and support as the best way to get the skills and knowledge needed to tow safely.

Launching the Trailer Towing Scheme

The Department for Transport (DfT) and DVSA are supporting the scheme and promoting the benefits of getting professional training. Further details about the training scheme are available on the DVSA Trailer Accreditation Scheme Stakeholder Toolkit.

Mark Winn, DVSA Chief Driving Examiner comments:

“The scheme has been launched to help everyone who plans to tow to do so safely. Training providers who become accredited through the scheme can promote their courses to motorists.

DVSA will be encouraging anyone who tows for leisure or business to find a training provider using the accreditation scheme”.

Find out more about our B+E accreditation scheme

 

DVSA backs Skills for Logistics new trailer towing scheme

Introduction

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Authority (DVSA) has initiated a new towing accreditation scheme following the decision taken by Department for Transport to scrap mandatory training and testing for the B+E category.

Role of the National Council for Accredited Trailer Training

As part of the new trailer towing accreditation scheme, the DVSA will be accrediting training organisations via the National Council for Accredited Trailer Training (NCATT), a partnership between DVSA, trailer stakeholder groups, Department for Transport, and the accrediting bodies, including Skills for Logistics.

The role of NCATT will be to act through a forum where strategic issues can be discussed. It will also monitor the performance of the training syllabus and whether overall standards are met.

Skills for Logistics and other accrediting bodies will operate the scheme and accredit training centres and instructors to deliver quality-approved trailer training.

Purpose of the new scheme

The new trailer training scheme aims to:

  • Ensure drivers who are towing trailers for business and leisure purposes have the skills, knowledge, and competencies to tow safely
  • Make sure an employer’s corporate responsibilities ensure safe working practices are being met for their staff towing trailers in connection with their work.

The road ahead

As of now, three training organisations have been accredited by the DVSA as accrediting bodies. These include the National Trailer & Towing Association, National Register of LGV Instructors, and Skills for Logistics.

A spokesman from DVSA has explained the purpose of the new scheme:

“The government is committed to encouraging drivers to get professional training before towing for leisure or business.

The trailer training accreditation scheme aims to ensure drivers who want to tow a trailer for leisure or business have the skills, knowledge, and competencies to tow safely. And for those towing a trailer in connection with their work, to help ensure an employer’s corporate responsibilities to make sure safe working practices are met.”

Read more about how training instructors can get accredited under our new scheme

DVSA launches B+E training syllabus for safe work practices

The DVSA has launched a new trailer towing accreditation training scheme which will give Britain’s drivers the choice to be fully equipped with the skills, knowledge, and understanding of towing trailers safely.

The scheme will be launched in two phases, the first of which will be to establish a network of accredited training centres and instructors. Phase 2 will be to cascade the accredited training to candidates in early May. The scheme is designed for corporate organisations wishing to ensure their employees are fully trained, complying with Health & Safety requirements, and for other motorists towing trailers and caravans for leisure and pleasure.

DVSA has given official recognition of the Skills for Logistics B+E (trailer towing) accreditation scheme where we will accredit training centres and instructors and provide quality assurance and certification.

Find out more about the Skills for Logistics B+E accreditation scheme and how you can apply.

Industry Losing Thousands of New Drivers as LGV Testing Remains Suspended

At the start of the Covid19 lockdown, the DVSA suspended testing of new LGV drivers and no new drivers have entered the industry since that date.  Unfortunately the DVSA has still not confirmed when LGV driving tests will resume, leading to fears that the transport industry will soon see a worsening of the driver shortage.

At Skills for Logistics we felt it was particularly important to engage directly with the 150 plus LGV training providers across the UK, by conducting a survey asking whether the LGV training sector can bounce back to tackle the back log of 20,000 + lost driving tests.

Read more here. Read more

Tension between lower level and high-level apprenticeship training provision needs to be resolved.

As an end-point assessor our main focus is apprenticeships. The work we do is predicated on the advice and regulations laid out by the government. In many respects, these new apprenticeship standards, the levy, the shift in definitions, expectations and opportunities resemble one large experiment.

We, like many other in the education sector, are excited by the potential and are starting to see good numbers of apprentices go through end-point assessment.

We are also seeing businesses move past perceiving the Levy as merely an additional tax. Critically in our sector, logistics, we finally have a vocational training opportunity that could help resolve the skills crisis.

If you were not already aware, Large Goods Vehicles (LGV) drivers alone have an average age of 53 in the UK and, depending on who you listen to, hundreds of thousands of new recruits are needed to address shortages by 2024.

However, there are real issues affecting the viability of this experiment. Businesses are opting for higher level apprenticeships, which is resulting in an overspend of the apprenticeship budget. I’m sure there are many reasons contributing to this situation but here is what we’ve observed in our sector…

Read the full article here.


The Apprenticeship Levy – 2 years on.

The 6th April 2019 marked the 2 years anniversary of the apprenticeship levy coming into effect and I believe it has taken quite literally that amount of time for most employers and stakeholders to fully understand it.

Working with The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (the Institute), we can see the direct impact the new standards are having on employer behaviour and how apprenticeships are being embedded into workforce planning and talent pipelines. As Anne Milton highlighted, apprenticeships bring new blood into businesses, they promote local talent and upskill the existing workforce.

Going forward, there is still a lot to do, particularly with non-levy payers and entry level standards. I know the government want to see the Institute become much more transparent and to build more open and fluid relationships with employers, and the Institute to be viewed as facilitators rather than just a regulator.

I see my role at the Institute very much as an ambassador and certainly engaging as much as possible with employers and training providers – encouraging full usage of the levy pot. If not this route, then definitely to promote the opportunity to transfer 25% to connected businesses in oppose to losing it month by month.

10th April 2019 David Coombes

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