IMPOSSIBLE LEGISLATION?
In my article about publishing pass rates in the November newsletter I mentioned that some ADI’s take their ADI licence out during tests to prevent the DSA collecting test data and tagging it to the ADI. It’s all above board because current regulations require the licence to be on display only when you are in the car giving instruction.
The regulations to require a licence to be displayed in-car for tests is actually already in existence, in the Road Safety Act 2006, section 42, schedule 6, but it has never been activated.
This bit of legislation states:
"displaying certificates: at present ADI’s are required to display their DSA-approved instruction certificate in the car only whilst they are giving paid instruction; in the future the Secretary of State can require that evidence of registration should be displayed in the classroom, on the business premises and in the vehicle when used for driver training or testing."
Let’s look at the purpose of the ADI licence first. The licence is simply a declaration that you are listed on the ADI register, nothing more, and allows you collect money or money’s worth for giving instruction.
On a test you are not giving any instruction, and you might not even be in the car. So at present you don’t need it on display. It’s going to need another change to the current regulations to redefine what the ADI licence is for if it is to be a requirement to display when you are not being paid or not present. Which appears to suggest that the piece of legislation in schedule 6, is unenforceable in its present form.
If it’s ever going to be possible to force an ADI to display the licence during test, and it’s a massive ‘if’, the DSA could then collect the test data it requires to formulate an individual ADI’s pass rate. However, I think there are just too many hurdles for DSA to jump over to ever make this piece of legislation to work. The DSA has been talking for the last decade about making licence display on test compulsory. It’s going to carry on doing so for the next ten years too.