Driving instructors who pose a significant threat to public safety will face immediate suspension under new legislation put before Parliament last week.
Under the current legislation it takes a minimum of 45 days to prevent an instructor from continuing to give paid driving instruction. From 13 July, however, the registrar of approved driving instructors will have the power to immediately suspend the registration or trainee licence of an instructor who presents a significant danger to the safety of the public.
Mike Penning, road safety minister, said: “Driving instructors play a vital role in helping to ensure Britain’s roads remain among the safest in the world.
“The vast majority of instructors meet the extremely high standards we require of them, but in the very rare cases where an instructor presents a significant danger to the public, it is right that we take prompt and effective action to protect learners and other road users.”
The new legislation is likely to be used in cases where instructors have been convicted of a violent or sexual offence or are delivering tuition of a dangerously low standard, while the formal removal or revocation processes are being completed.
Instructors retain the right of appeal against a decision to remove them from the register of approved driving instructors or to revoke their trainee licence.
Click here for more detailed guidance on the new legislation.
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