The Medium Term Exemptions granted by the DfT expire on 31 July 2026. From 1 August 2026, operators will be expected to comply with PSVAR in full, subject to any changes which may be implemented as a result of the upcoming review of PSVAR.
The exemption terms require increasing levels of compliance with PSVAR over time. The exact requirements differ according to which band you are in. More details in the requirements and bands can be found here: PSVAR Exemptions and Bands
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The UKCOA submitted its response to the Call for Evidence on 29 August 2023. You can view a summary of the response.
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The UKCOA has produced a summary of our proposed response to the Call For Evidence on PSVAR for member comments and for discussion at the special Members meeting on Wednesday 16 August at 10:30.
The first two pages of the document are the most important. The other pages are Appendices containing the legal definition of a scheduled service and the existing derogations for Home to School and Rail Replacement services, which are in place until August 2026 (and which have been previously circulated).
The response tries to balance out the view of the coach industry with the expectations of those representing passengers with a disability and end up with a proposition which is more likely to be acceptable to the DfT, whilst protecting, where possible, the interests of the coach industry.
All comments on this document must be received by 4 pm on Thursday 18 August (to [email protected]), to allow sufficient time for these to be considered and for the response to be submitted to the DfT in time. If you want to respond direct to the call for evidence you can access it here.
The link to the meeting on Wednesday 16 August is as follows:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84609025840?pwd=N2VCR3F1MlNUWXBPZFpiazhoL3dhQT09
Meeting ID: 846 0902 5840
Passcode: 696851
The DfT opened its Call for Evidence in June 2023. The closing date is 4 September 2023. You can access it here.
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The UKCOA has had meetings with the other trade bodies and the Guild of British Coach Operators to formulate what could be considered an “industry-wide” opinion and to understand where and why there are any differences in approach.
Peter Bradley is putting together the draft PSVAR statement, which will form the basis of the UKCOA response to the Call For Evidence. It will be circulated to members ahead of a special PSVAR members meeting on Wednesday 16 August at 10:30.
If you require any further details please contact [email protected]
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On 13th April 2022 the DfT wrote to the UKCOA with details of Medium Term Exemptions for coaches used on Home to School Transport and Rail Replacement services from PSVAR.
The closing date for applications for RR (or RR and HTS) services is Tuesday 17 May 2022, and the closing date for applications for HTS services is Tuesday 31 May 2022.
More information is on the gov.uk website and the text of the letter can be downloaded here.
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On 16th December 2021 Baroness Vere, Minister for Roads, Buses and Places in the Department for Transport wrote to the UKCOA concerning a further extension to the derogation for coaches used on Home to School Transport and Rail Replacement services from PSVAR:
In summary:
- The current Home to School transport exemption that expires on 31 March 2022 is extended to 31 July 2022.
- There will be further exemptions granted beyond 31 July 2022, but these may be dependent on size of fleet, although it is likely that there will be a further six month extension for all, but then extensions after that will require operators to meet increasing levels of compliance over the lifetime of the exemption;
- For Home to School operators who has an exemption which expires on 31 December 2021, you can apply for a ‘closed door’ exemption to expire on 31 July 2022 by emailing [email protected]
A copy of the letter can be downloaded here
We will discuss this topic further at our next members meeting on 18th January 2022. In the meantime if you have any immediate questions please do not hesitate to contact Peter Bradley on 0333 7333 222