Cardiff Castle Keep

The First Minister of Wales, Dr Mark Drakeford, held a Q&A session yesterday and came out with the most clear statement about ADIs working that we’ve seen.  You can view it here,   Well done to Gareth Denny for getting a question answered.

Two recent press articles that ADINJC had some involvement in, both in Wales.  Wales is doing well for coverage!  These are both from Wales Online, you can view one here, and the other here.

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I’m sure you will all  have seen that theory tests in England have been for those booked on 4-7 June.

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Yesterday’s update contained an email from a member with information from their local police force and I’ve had a couple of follow ups from members to say that other police forces have different viewpoints.

Carl Elsby wrote in to say – “Their police response is totally ignoring the government guidance and the working in vehicles 

Are they stopping council workers in the same van ?
The 2m is not law so they can’t stop you on that and there is no law re adis working .
As North Yorkshire police stated there is no legislation.
It’s not fair or balanced you only post this force saying no when other forces have said different.”

And from David Morgan of Kendal – “For your information, I had written to Cumbria police and received a reply yesterday. Their advice was to refer to the gov.uk website to establish if it was legal for driving instructors to return to work. Maybe they are busy trying to keep the tourists at bay!

I have seen some stuff on social media and it is quite interesting to see the differing responses from various police forces.

The general theme seems to be that unless you are involved with a critical worker candidate/test, you shouldn’t be teaching.”

As David says, there are differing responses from different police forces, so maybe you need to check on your own force’s policy before taking anyone other than a key worker.

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Questions from Monday’s Webinar – with some answers

Are the DVSA Offering to extend our ADI licences for these months that we haven’t been able to work?  DVSA has no ability under the legislation to extend licences, or to change the fee.  The only flexibility they have is that people whose licences expired during the lockdown period, have been advised that they do not need to renew their licence until lockdown is coming to an end.  They have 12 months to renew their licence without having to re-qualify.  People who have been able to take advantage of this have therefore saved a few months’ fee and haven’t had to spend that money.

What will the Registrar think about people going back when the guidance says don’t!  If it comes to the Registrar’s attention she may consider action under the ‘Fit & Proper’ regulations, but we have no information on this and she would treat each case on its merits.

Are there any fines if you decide to teach anyone apart from key workers?  This is up to the individual Police authorities and we understand that different areas are taking different views.  This is obviously different in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland where the amount of the fine will vary.

Can you clarify the current “key worker” definition please?  Essentially it is someone who is preparing for an emergency test.  There are details on the NASP website with examples of who this might be.

What is the difference teaching a key worker with an emergency test and a non keyworker who has a test booked in June and July?  One is following Government guidelines and one isn’t.  We are still in lockdown and under Government guidance and DVSA is a Government Agency and may not take kindly to those who go against the current rules.  DVSA have made it clear that you can teach a key worker.

If you cannot get in a car with anyone not from your household, does that mean taxi and private hire drivers are now working illegally if they take customers into their cabs?  Our understanding is that there were exemptions for taxi drivers and private hire drivers under the guidelines.  It is worth noting that they are second on the list of people who are most at risk from contracting or dying from Covid 19.

I have a pupil with a test on the 26th of this month my pupil wants to do lessons from 8th of this month but we have no clarity of social distancing, what would you advise me to do? should i advise my pupil to reschedule his test due to the high risk of the virus and taking in to account that we will be breaking the social distancing rule?  Our advice has always been that we need to wait until we are given information on tests resuming, we are hoping for news shortly.

What happens if we have a test on 6th July and has not been cancelled.  As above

What happens if you as an ADI do not currently book your pupils tests?  We are hoping that priority will be given to people with tests booked to enable them to change them if necessary.  ADIs will have to have conversations with pupils about test dates.

If both instructor and pupil are wearing facemasks, would that affect contact trace contacts?  We don’t think so but we don’t have specific information on that.

Do we know what national franchise driving schools and car leasing, and car finance, companies are doing about ending payment holidays?  We don’t currently have this information and each company will make their own decisions.

Can you ask the Chancellor why the second instalment of the Self Employed grant is to be  paid three months in arrears?  This will cause great hardship for many.  Surely it could be  paid monthly.  We do not have access to the Chancellor directly but the system is set up to be paid in arrears. We would imagine to help with the enormous logistical task of paying everyone. So it’s one payment and not three. 

If I give driving lessons before August will this affect the amount of Self Employment Income Support payable?
No. You’re are allowed to work and claim SEISS as long as your business has been affected in some way by Covid19 in that time.

Will there be a shut off date, re applying for the bounce back loan?  The cut off date is the 4th November with the government retaining the right to extend it if they need to.

I will not be applying for the bounce back loan, but is there a release fee of any kind to withdraw it?  This is not the case with the bank Matt uses (HSBC) but some may charge small fees for withdrawal depending on the business account you have and how you withdraw, cash or electronically.

 

 

 

 

If you would like to join the ADINJC there is more information on our website.

 

 

 

Whilst our newsflashes are normally a benefit of membership of the ADINJC, during this national emergency we want to share information as widely as possible, so please feel free to pass this on.  We are stronger together.

 

The NJC continues to be dedicated to help you in these challenging times and we hope you and your loved ones stay safe and healthy.  Please feel free to contact us for help and support.

 

ADINJC’s helpline is 0800 8202 444

The Secretary’s number is 07855 453414

HMRC Helpline:  0800 0159 559

Citizens Advice Bureau – https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/health/coronavirus-what-it-means-for-you/

You can sign up to receive Government updates on Coronavirus relating to driving tests here.

The ADINJC is a national association run by ADIs on a not-for-profit basis.  We work tirelessly to inform, represent and support our members, and to promote the interests of our profession.