Professional Driver Services

Minibus

• The Minibus
• Driver Entitlement
• Exemptions
• Minibus Training

Minibus Training

Exemptions

Vehicle Weight

The vast majority, if not all, of the 17 seat minibuses manufactured from 2003 onwards weigh in excess of 3500kg. Persons without a D1 category on their licence are therefore finding it increasingly difficult to be legally permitted to drive a minibus since most of the minibuses exceed the weight limit specified in the exemptions list.

Voluntary (Unpaid) Basis

It is not entirely clear what constitutes a driver providing their services on a voluntary / unpaid basis means and this has not been tested in UK courts to date.

The DVLA have stated that “you may not receive any payment or consideration for [driving a minibus] other than out of pocket expenses”. This statement is most relevant to teachers driving the school minibus, either during or after school hours, when they are still under school regulations and disciplinary procedures. In an attempt to clarify the situation the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) published a policy statement in April 2006 entitled “Licensing for Incidental Drivers of the School Minibus”. It is worth noting that the DfES states that the guidance within this policy document that it “does not constitute legal advice and nor is it a ruling on the law”.

This states that teachers (and in fact other school staff) are, in the most part, exempt from the requirement to hold a D1 PCV driving licence to drive the school minibus because they are not being paid specifically to drive, i.e. driving is not mentioned in their contract of employment, job description and / or list of duties.

The DfES document sets out good practice options for exempted school staff and encourages schools to ensure that anyone who drives the school minibus receives appropriate training. In fact the statement goes as far as to say “it would, nonetheless, be bad practice for school staff to drive the minibus solely on the basis that they have held a Class B licence for 2 years”. It sets out good practice options for exempted school staff and encourages schools to ensure that all staff who drive the school minibus receive appropriate training.