Uproar over instant entry to LGV trainers
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by Derren Hayes • An LGV driver training body with 800 members is set to automatically be allowed on to the Driving Standards Agency's new voluntary register of instructors.
The decision by the DSA to allow Road Transport Industry Training Business Services members on to the voluntary register of approved instructors without checking them individually has caused uproar among other instructors not affiliated to the organisation.
The RTITB, a limited company with charity status, offers LGV training accreditation and examiner services to instructors of training schools. It says its drivers are already individually assessed on their instruction techniques, which is the reason for the proposed automatic listing. RTITB says its members will be delighted if the DSA decision is confirmed. Other driver training schools say that if the recommendation is given the go-ahead, it will give RTITB-registered schools an unfair advantage.
Nick Smith, head of training school Roadtrain and a member of the Association of Vocational Driver Training Providers, says: "What the DSA is recommending is giving a commercial advantage to our competitors over us and others not on the list.
"We are in favour of standards being tested but it must be on a level playing field across the board."
The voluntary register is the first step towards creating a compulsory list of approved instructors. Consultation will last three months, with the voluntary code likely to be drawn up by early 1997.