Freddie van Mierlo

I would like to start by talking about FISH, although not the aquatic kind, you will be pleased to know, Madam Deputy Speaker, given the topic of this debate. FISH stands for Friends in Sickness and Health. It is a wonderful charity in the village of Sonning Common in my constituency. Among other things, its volunteers run a minibus service for older residents and residents with disabilities to enable them to more easily get around the villages in my area. Their minibuses are perfect for providing people who would otherwise really struggle to leave the house with a trip out to the shops or to the market. Morrisons, I am told, remains ever popular, and the extra space on the bus is vital for bringing back all the shopping. FISH are not alone either in my constituency. Henley HandyBus, supported by Henley town council, operates daily, and the Woodcote Volunteers host events, providing transport to their monthly tea parties. But it was Sonning Common’s FISH group that brought to my attention the issue of D1 licences when we met in October here in Westminster. The Minister is likely to be familiar with the issue, but I will briefly describe it in the words used to explain it to me. A category D1 licence gives a driver permission to drive a minibus with up to 16 passengers and weighing up to 7.5 tonnes. Prior to 1997, all new licences were issued with this category as standard. In 1997, that changed, and now D1 minibus driving licences require an additional test. This happened for a very understandable reason—to enhance safety—and it brought us in line with other similar countries, but it also created a problem. Community transport services have become dependent on an ever-decreasing pool of drivers who qualified prior to 1997. Madam Deputy Speaker, I am confident that means that neither you, the Minister or I have D1 licences. The reality is that more than half of community transport operators report having insufficient D1 drivers to meet demand. According to the Community Transport Association, 81% of community transport operators are not confident that they will have enough D1 drivers to sustain their services in as little as three years’ time. What is even worse is that once a driver gets to the age of 70, they automatically lose their D1 category licence unless they apply to retain it, and they must do that every three years. Again, that is for very understandable and sensible safety reasons, but the upshot is that 99% of all D1 licences in Great Britain are held by drivers in a narrow age band of 47 to 69.