Driving Instructors Branch of Unite the Union September 2013 | Page 15

So if DSA are ever allowed to become an enforcer by means of a Statutory Instrument: any monies collected will not swell their coffers.

So after all the time and effort in getting the Government through a Statutory Instrument to allow the Registrar to issue civil sanction, then the man hours involved in identifying a breach in regulations, the investigation, then the process of issuing the sanction; DSA get nothing for all this the money goes into a central fund controlled by the government. Some would say it’s a indirect taxation or a stealth tax.

You will have to make up your own mind.

On the matter of civil sanctions we have heard from one of the other national associations and their reply to the consultation on the matter beggars’ belief.

Part of a draft response shared by one of the national associations;

Question 7: Would you support the introduction of civil sanctions as part of the process by which the Registrar enforces compliance within the ADI registration process?

We agree with this proposal and have been pressing for this sanction for a number of years. We would welcome further discussion about the levels at which the sanctions should be set and whether the amount of the sanction should vary according to the type of compliance failure and whether limited suspension should be considered as a sanction alongside a financial penalty.

Members who have contacted us over this issue and it’s been mentioned at many local ADI association meetings that we have attended since the start of the consultation. We have yet to hear of any ADI agreeing to civil sanction.

So how come one of the National Association agree to this and yet we can’t find any ADI’s that do. We replied in the strongest terms opposing any form of civil sanction. Our reply did not involve the possibility of limited suspension as this was not in the consultation. If it had of been we would also oppose this.