The History of Driver CPC
Driver CPC : foreword
It is fair to state that driver CPC was viewed with distaste and hostility, by many drivers in the transport industry when it first came on the scene.
Some drivers felt so aggrieved at having to, as they saw it, attend training courses telling them how to do the job they were already doing, they threatened to leave the job.
Well over a decade on from when many drivers attended their first driver CPC course, quite a few have changed their mind about driver CPC and realise that with the right material and the right trainer, attendance on a driver CPC course can be a valuable, even enjoyable experience.
Face-to-face or online
From it's launch in 2008 until April 2020, driver CPC periodic courses had to be attended in person, face-to-face with a trainer in a classroom environment, typically with a group size not exceeding 20 delegates.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic the DVSA and JAUPT allowed periodic driver CPC training courses to be conducted online for the first time on the 8th April 2020.
Driver CPC : the aims and objectives
European Union directive 2003/59/EC (15th July 2003) instructed all EU Member States that they must introduce national legislation to implement a system of training that all professional drivers of certain goods and passenger–carrying vehicles must attend in order to be qualified as professionally competent, in addition to their vocational driving licence.
EU directive 2003/59/EC paragraph 3
To enable drivers to meet the new demands arising from the development of the road transport market, Community rules should be made applicable to all drivers, whether they drive as self-employed or salaried workers, and whether on own account or for hire or reward.
EU directive 2003/59/EC paragraph 4
The establishment of new Community rules is aimed at ensuring that, by means of his or her qualification, the driver is of a standard to have access to and carry out the activity of driving.
EU directive 2003/59/EC paragraph 5
More particularly, the obligation to hold an initial qualification and to undergo periodic training is intended to improve road safety and the safety of the driver, including during operations carried out by the driver while the vehicle is stopped. Furthermore, the modern nature of the profession of driver should arouse young people’s interest in the profession, contributing to the recruitment of drivers at a time of shortage.
EU directive 2003/59/EC paragraph 7
In order to establish that the driver complies with his or her obligations, Member States should issue the driver with a certificate of professional competence, hereinafter referred to as ‘CPC’, certifying his or her initial qualification or periodic training.
EU directive 2003/59/EC paragraph 9
In order to maintain their qualification of driver, existing drivers should be obliged to undergo periodic retraining in the skills essential for their profession.
EU directive 2003/59/EC paragraph 10
The minimum requirements to be met for the initial qualification and the periodic training concern the safety rules to be observed when driving and while the vehicle is stopped. The development of defensive driving – anticipating danger, making allowance for other road users – which goes hand in hand with rational fuel consumption, will have a positive impact both on society and on the road transport sector itself.
EU directive 2003/59/EC paragraph 11
This Directive should not affect the rights acquired by a driver who has held the driving licence necessary to carry out the activity of driving since before the date laid down for obtaining a CPC certifying the corresponding initial qualification or the periodic training.
Driver CPC : the implementation
Directive 2003/59/EC was implemented in the UK with the introduction of the Vehicle Drivers (Certificates of Professional Competence) Regulations 2007, which came into force on 27th March 2007.
Acquired or Grandfather Rights
Drivers who already held a vocational Goods Vehicle driving licence category entitlement (C1, C or CE) on 10th September 2009 or already held a vocational Passenger Vehicle driving licence entitlement (D1, D or DE) on 10th September 2008 were granted “acquired rights” (also known as grandfather rights), and as such did not need to take the initial driver CPC qualification modules.
The first five-year driver CPC periodic training window, often referred to as "Phase 1"
In the UK the first five-year driver CPC periodic “training window” began on Wednesday 10th September 2008 for bus and coach drivers and ended on Monday 9th September 2013.
For lorry drivers in the UK the first five-year driver CPC periodic “training window” began on Thursday 10th September 2009 and ended on Tuesday 9th September 2014.
By the end of their respective five year “training window”, acquired rights drivers had to have completed 35 hours CPC training, that is 5 sessions, each containing 7-hours of JAUPT (Joint Approvals Unit for Periodic Training) approved training material, conducted by an approved trainer, on behalf of an approved training centre.
Completion, through attendance in person, of the required 35 hours approved periodic training within the aforementioned respective five-year bus or lorry CPC training windows resulted in a driver being issued with their "CPC" (certified as professionally competent), for the five years beyond the end of their respective training window.
Thereafter to remain certified as professionally competent a driver must attend 35 hours of approved training during each subsequent five-year training window, to qualify as being professionally competent for the next five-year period following the five-year training window.
Subsequent five-year driver CPC periodic training phases / five-year training windows
Driver CPC periodic training phase 2 for bus and coach drivers began on 10th September 2013 and ended on 9th September 2018, for lorry drivers the phase 2 dates were 10th September 2014 to 9th September 2019.
Phase 3 for bus and coach drivers was 10th September 2018 to 9th September 2023, and for lorry drivers, remaining one year behind (we know our place), 10th September 2019 to 9th September 2024.
As a result of these fixed date five-year training windows, many in the transport industry would, having completed their required training just prior to the training window end date, do absolutely no CPC training whatsoever for four and a half years and then frantically seek out, and on occasion fail to secure, a place on driver CPC courses in the last few months, or even in the case of some, the last few weeks of a training window.
It was estimated by the government several years ago that the end of phase 3, 9th September 2023 for bus / coach drivers, 9th September 2024 for lorry drivers, would be the last time ever when those with acquired rights would outnumber those who entered the industry since driver CPC was introduced.
Moving forward this should make driver CPC periodic training a far better, more sustainable throughout the five-year window, reliable business model, rather than the extreme peaks and troughs business model of the last decade.
Slowly, as companies and drivers have come to realise that driver CPC is here to stay, and also very slowly the realisation that it does genuinely serve an invaluable purpose within our industry, attendance on driver CPC courses for acquired rights drivers seems to be moving away from the manic end of phase comedy sketch, and instead seems now to be more in keeping with the official government advice, which has always been, do one course a year every year for each of the five-years.
Maybe I'm reading too much into it, and the real reason is as follows.
More often than not, it is employers who seek out and fund driver CPC training, despite the legal responsibilty to be qualified lying with the individual driver, because if the company don't get involved they may well find themselves in a situation where a driver, or even multiple drivers, cannot legally do the job they are employed to do, a far from ideal situation for a company needing to run a transport fleet.
With an ever increasing percentage of their driver workforce not having acquired rights, companies find it far better, both from a planning and a financial point of view, to spread the training and cost across the entire five-year window.
We are currently in phase 4, which will end on 9th September 2028 for bus / coach drivers with acquired rights, and 9th September 2029 for lorry drivers with acquired rights.
Drivers entering the industry after the "Acquired Rights" dates
Drivers obtaining their first vocational driving licence category entitlement after the above noted "phase 1" start date (of their respective bus or lorry licence category) MUST complete initial DCPC training before they can drive professionally.
They must then complete 35 hours of periodic driver CPC training before the five-year anniversary date of passing their initial DCPC, and beyond that MUST complete 35 hours of approved periodic driver CPC training in each, unique to them, five-year anniversary training window.
The Driver Qualification Card / DQC
A card known as a Driver Qualification Card, or DQC, bearing the driver's photograph is issued to a certified competent driver on behalf of the DVSA, by the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency).
A driver does not have to apply for the DQC, it is issued automatically after the 35 hours of approved training has been completed. The photograph and signature on the DQC are the same photo and signature that DVLA have on file, in use on the driver's current driving licence.
Read our article about the DQCThe penalties for non-compliance
A person unable to produce their DQC (Driver Qualification Card), or evidence of being qualified, to a Police Officer or Traffic Examiner when requested to do so, can be fined up to £1000
Most typically DVSA deal with a CPC qualified driver being unable to produce their card by issuing a £50 fixed penalty notice.
A person found guilty of the offence of driving without a valid CPC, or a person who causes or permits another person to drive without a valid CPC, can be fined up to £1000
Driver CPC : The Competent Authorities
JAUPT (Joint Approvals Unit for Periodic Training), a not-for-profit limited company, was established in 2007 to enable the competent authorities VOSA* (Vehicle and Operator Services Agency) in Great Britain and DVA (Driver and Vehicle Agency) in Northern Ireland, to manage the approval application process of training centres and the course training material they would need to submit for approval in order to be legally able deliver courses for the periodic training element of The Vehicle Drivers (Certificates of Professional Competence) Regulations 2007.
DVSA : The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency
On 28th November 2013 the Government formed the DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) in preparation for the merging of VOSA with the DSA (Driving Standards Agency - the people that conducted driving tests).
DVSA is an executive agency of the Department for Transport.
An executive agency is legally part of a central government department, but has it’s own management structure and budget. Executive agencies are designed to separate policy-making from the day-to-day delivery of services.
VOSA’s responsibilities passed to the DVSA on 1st April 2014.
On 1st October 2022 JAUPT became part of DVSA, who now, despite still using the JAUPT name in email addresses and some webpages, seem to be actively trying to consign the JAUPT name to the history books.
DVSA are now the government department responsible for approving and overseeing driver CPC training in Great Britain
Their duties with regard to this involve approving and auditing training centres, approving driver CPC trainers, approving driver CPC periodic course material, maintaining a database, The Recording & Evidencing System, that training centres use to notify the DVSA that a driver has attended a driver CPC course, and maintaining a database that individual drivers can access (once registered) to check the history and / or progress of their driver CPC training.