The launch of a new National Register of LGV Instructors (NRI) operated by RTITB and endorsed by the DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) is announced today. Also supported by the FTA (Freight Transport Association) and RHA (Road Haulage Association), the NRI aims to promote higher standards of LGV instruction and increase the number of registered instructors, in turn helping to improve the LGV training pass rate.
The NRI aims to provide a single, national register for the road transport industry following the announcement of the closure of the DVSA’s existing register on 31st December 2016. RTITB’s existing register of professional LGV instructors will also close. The new NRI will launch on 1st January 2017.
The DVSA and RTITB, the leading standard setting body for workplace transport training, have worked closely with the training industry and trade associations, including the RHA and the FTA, to ensure that the benefits of the registers continue, but the responsibility is passed to the industry itself.
“The new NRI will be run on a not-for-profit basis for the road transport industry, by the industry, which is best placed to develop a relevant and robust register for the future,” says Richard Brewer, Manager of the National Register of LGV Instructors. “By working together, the register will improve the standards of LGV driver training, while providing an opportunity to further expand the register and professionalise the LGV training industry as a whole.”
Mark Winn, DVSA’s Head of Vocational Policy, said: “DVSA first priority is to help you through a lifetime of safe driving. I’m really proud that DVSA will be supporting the new LGV industry driving instructor register. DVSA will be part of the governance committee overseeing the delivery and development of the register and associated examination. It will continue to set standards for driver training through its role on the committee, and by maintaining the national standard for driving lorries.”
Colin Snape, RHA Deputy Director of Policy, said: “the Road Haulage Association fully supports the need for professionalism of LGV drivers trainers and the need for a formal register.We believe that with RTITB taking on the register, continuity of excellence in LGV driver training will be maintained.”
The objectives of the NRI include maintaining standards for the required skills and knowledge of LGV Instructors, improving the standard of LGV instruction available and increasing the overall number of registered instructors. It is also a goal of the new register to contribute to an improvement in the national pass rate of LGV vocational tests. Test pass rates for candidates trained by those instructors registered on the NRI will be published in the future.
RTITB will operate the new register, while the DVSA will be part of the governance committee overseeing the delivery and development of the register and associated examination. The governance committee will also include the RHA and FTA, as well as large and small employers of LGV drivers and commercial LGV training organisations.
Although the register will be operated by RTITB, the NRI will operate as a completely separate entity and information in the register will be held and managed on a totally independent database. RTITB will be regularly audited by the NRI governance committee to reassure members of quality, standards and neutrality.
Both RTITB and the DVSA are encouraging members of the expiring voluntary registers to join the new register. Instructor registration can be transferred from either to the NRI free of charge.
For information on registering with, or transferring an existing DVSA or RTITB instructor registration to, the new National Register of LGV Instructors, email us or call on +44(0)1952 520210.