§ Mr. Allen McKayTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to ensure that drivers of mini-buses for voluntary organisations, charitable organisations and community transport organisations will be exempted from the provisions of the European Community directive on driver licensing harmonisation.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyThere is no justification for tougher controls on minibus drivers. Statistics show that minibuses are at least as safe as cars.
Public consultations confirmed that the EC proposals would cause serious problems for voluntary and community transport organisations. The groups that they serve would suffer as a result.
We want to support a modified directive. We want to maintain and enhance safety. We want to maintain and enhance mobility for special needs groups and common interest groups. We do not want statutory additional driving and medical tests for non-commercial drivers of minibuses.
The United Kingdom has wide experience in safe mobility for the handicapped. We aim to share our approach with others. We aim to achieve the modification needed so that each country may choose to develop safe services like ours.