Northern Ireland 0-licensing reform The Department of the Environment intends
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to amend the Northern Ireland 0-licensing system to mirror that of Great Britain. Changes include a system for restricted 0-licensing to apply to own-account carriage for the first time. From April 2010, existing hire or reward operators will be entered onto the Operator Licensing Business System database. and from April 2011 own-account operators are expected to have to apply for an 0-licence.
Enforcement of motor insurance The Department for Transport (DfT) has published a consultation on plans to use the DVLA vehicles register and the Motor Insurance Database held by the Motor Insurers Bureau to warn and then penalise (fixed penalty of £100, immobilisation and eventually disposal) vehicle keepers who fail to hold valid insurance. Enabling legislation is already in place in the Road Safety Act 2006, and implementation is expected from autumn 2010 at the earliest.
Temporary Agency Workers Directive A European Directive requires domestic law in place by 5 December 2011 to provide for equal treatment of temporary agency workers in relation to basic working and employment conditions, access to permanent employment, and amenities to improve access to training.
Cabotage regulation An EU rule will tignten the rules on cabotage the national carriage of goods by road undertaken on a temporary basis by a non-resident haulier. It limits hauliers to three cabotage operations in seven days of international carriage. Within the limit, cabotage operations can be carried out in any member state, but where entry into a member state is unladen, the haulier is limited to just one cabotage operation per member state within three days of unladen entry Hauliers must produce evidence of international carriage and cabotage operations. The new rules come into force on 14 May 2010.
Road safety compliance A Dfl consultation includes proposals to introduce: six penalty points for exceeding the speed limit by 20mph; make careless diving a fixed penalty offence (£60 with three points); the specification of retraining courses for drivers who have had their vocational licences revoked by a IC; and the lowering of the blood-alcohol limit. Changes are expected from early 2010.
Cl and D1 learner supervisor changes The Driving Standards Agency intends to change the regulations for supervisors of learner drivers in categories Cl. C1+E, D1 and Dl +E, where the supervisors hold vocational entitlements gained with a pre-1997 car test pass. From 6 April 2010. those supervisors will need to meet the higher medical standards, pass the relevant test and wait until they have held their new vocational entitlement for three years before they can act as a supervisor to a learner.
UK and Eire mutual recognition of disqualifications The UK has taken formal legal steps, along with the Republic of Ireland administration, to mutually recognise driving disqualifications issued to either UK or Irish drivers. This will mean a UK driving licence holder disqualified for an offence in Ireland will no longer escape that punishment when they return home. Likewise, a disqualification earned by an Irish driver while in the UK will be enforced on their return to Ireland. Legislation is expected to take effect this month.
The Agency Workers Regulations 2010, 1 October 2011 Implements a European Directive that requires the equal treatment of temporary workers in relation to pay, night work, working time, breaks and annual leave.
0-licensing changes Introduction of harmonised licensing rules for international operators and transport managers on 4 December 2011. Key changes are the introduction of a pan-European database, merging of national and international transport manager CPCs and restrictions on part-time transport managers.
These access to the occupation regulations will be introduced by 2012, and they include a requirement limiting the scope of transport managers representing more than one operation.
They will not be able to work for more than four firms, and the total of vehicles must not exceed 50.