Statement received today from Lesley Young

DVSA Head of Policy and Chief Driving Examiner Lesley Young said:

“Following our recent announcement about driving instructor conduct, we’re aware that some members of the driver training sector have expressed concerns about the approach the ADI Registrar will take in dealing with the small minority of driving instructors whose actions bring the Register – and the driver training sector – into disrepute.

“DVSA treats seriously all complaints about driving instructor conduct. As a regulator of a public service, we have a duty to protect the public by taking action to remove from the Register those who fall short of required standards and we remain committed to doing so. The reality is that DVSA’s Counter-Fraud and Investigations team does have to investigate allegations of serious misconduct, and where they are proven, ADIs are removed from the Register.

“Pretending this doesn’t happen doesn’t help the victims, and doesn’t encourage them to speak out when it’s happened to them.
“We’re committed to supporting the vast majority of driving instructors who take pride in offering a high standard of tuition, giving excellent customer service and most importantly, providing a safe environment for pupils to learn in. These road safety professionals abide by the ADI Code of Practice and take seriously their position of trust in training their pupils to stay safe on Britain’s roads.
“Over the last few months we’ve been listening to industry representatives and discussing with them how we can help improve safeguarding guidance within the driver training sector. Driving instructors have an important role in safeguarding, as they’re also in a position to help keep their pupils safe from harm, by helping to spot, report and stop safeguarding issues occurring – particularly amongst young and vulnerable people.

“This dialogue will continue as we work with the driver training sector to look at how best we can help to inform, educate and advise instructors about safeguarding and raise awareness of appropriate training available to support them.”

Each member of NASP – ADI NJC, DIA and MSA GB have issued their own response to the DVSA blog and Press Release, each one takes a slightly different line but all the NASP members are united in their condemnation of the way DVSA have dealt with this matter.

On Thursday last week DVSA send NASP a copy of their Press Release, asking for a comment to be included in it by five-o-clock the same day. NASP chair Peter Harvey, protested about the short time frame available and about the whole tone of the press release.

The next day NASP received a copy of the blog post, on both items we were able to offer some last-minute suggestions for changes. We also suggested that the blog post be put out to the profession and asked that the press release to the media and thereby the public should be delayed a few days so that NASP could consult with members on the blog contents and work with the DVSA on a more constructive and less sensationalised statement for the media.

DVSA refused to delay the release and so both the Press Release and the Blog were sent out over the weekend. This resulted in sensational headlines across various media platforms such as the BBC who wrote “Sexual exploitation warning to driving instructors”. The story on their website starts “Driving instructors are being warned that if they have a sexual relationship with a young student it will now be seen as exploitation”. A section on today’s Jeremy Vine show (BBC Radio 2) was titled “Was your driving Instructor a paedophile” and Sky News, the Evening Standard, HuffPost UK and iNews all featured the terms “driving instructor” “sexual relationship” and “exploitation” in the first paragraphs of their reports.

These media reactions were entirely predictable and the DVSA has done no favours to the driver training profession by rushing out these misleading statements

Whilst we applaud DVSA’s aim to improve standards, ADINJC feels that the blog “making the conduct of driving instructors clearer” has a detrimental effect and in particular lowers the esteem of the industry in the public eye.

click here for the link

In any industry there will always be a small minority of unprofessional people who need to be dealt with which ADINJC fully accepts.

However putting this blog and press release out to the public has in our opinion damaged the good work of the majority of ADIs on the register because it didn’t give a balanced point of view. We consider the blog is too biased on what’s unprofessional rather than what is, and leaves the public with a poor perception of our industry. Quoting the figure of 109 instructor investigations which include ‘inappropriate sexual behaviour’ doesn’t show the public what percentage of those investigations were for that exact reason or how many of those investigations resulted in removal from the register.

One major concern for ADINJC members is DVSA’s stance on contractual issues. If DVSA are going to step into this area around the professional relationship between instructor and pupil then surely they should also be making it clear to learner drivers what their responsibilities are to the instructor and yet there is no corresponding protection for ADIs on any level. All ADIs need to understand issues around safeguarding but in our opinion this blog has given a one sided approach: it does little to help ADIs understand how to act in different circumstances if they have a client who is vulnerable or needs help or if the ADI themselves become a target from a malicious client or their family.

The media headlines this blog has created are disturbing for our industry, with one Radio programme entitled “Did you have a perverted driving instructor?” And discussing the subject as if it was the norm.

We want to thank all our members who have sent us their concerns over this press release and blog. Please continue to send to secretary@adinjc.org.uk as we will continue to discuss the contents of the blog further with both DVSA and NASP members and at the next meeting in March.

Lynne Barrie, Chairman

Message from our Patron, Quentin Willson

ADINJC has received the following message from our Patron, Quentin Willson, following the recent DVSA blog and press release on ADI conduct –

‘We shouldn’t be surprised. The cross hairs of political correctness were always going to fall on driving instructors. Last week, despite decades of teaching tens of millions of 17 year-olds to drive to the highest professional, ethical and moral standards, ADI’s were made to feel undeservedly grubby. The lumpen blog from the DVSA, rushed out in reaction to an ill-considered question in Parliament, helped nobody. Instead of saying that the amount of sexual exploitation within our industry is barely measurable and defending the decency and integrity of 39,000 ADIs, it allowed the media an opportunity to create the shamefully sensationalist storyline ‘was your driving instructor a pervert?’ The DVSA and the BBC really should know better.
For the record (and let’s hope somebody prints this) the dedication and professionalism of qualified driving instructors in this country is world-class and their relationship with young drivers is beyond reproach. Society doesn’t appreciate the massive life-saving contribution to road safety made by ADIs or their tireless dedication to driving education. To suggest an element of sexual exploitation within their ranks is mischievous and inaccurate. There’s no evidence to suggest there’s a level of inappropriate conduct that needs extra guidance and to allow the media to seed a false perception into the minds of the public without a robust defence has done the craft of driving instruction a grave disservice. So if you’re an ADI who feels hurt and insulted, take heart – right thinking parents and teens all over the UK appreciate and know the nobility and honour of your profession. Its a significant tragedy that the BBC and the government don’t.’

Quentin Willson