Policy background Goods, passenger and public service vehicles
Certificates of exemption for public service and goods vehicles
	A test certificate issued within the past year is ordinarily required to use a heavy vehicle – a lorry, bus or coach – on a road. The vehicle testing regime was suspended from late March to early July 2020 due to Covid-19, creating a significant backlog of vehicle tests.
	The Act amends existing powers to enable the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) to manage this unprecedented demand for testing in a manner that prioritises road safety (e.g. to test older vehicles on schedule while delaying tests of safer vehicles). This will permanently broaden an already existing power to grant certificates of temporary exemption. The policy intention is only to use the expanded powers in relation to exceptional circumstances.
	Temporary reduction in duration of certain driving licences
	Driver licensing is a matter reserved to Westminster for Scotland and Wales and devolved for Northern Ireland. However, the arrangements for licence renewal are very similar across the United Kingdom.
	Drivers applying for a first licence or renewing a lorry or bus licence at age 45 or over are required to provide a medical report. This report is known as a D4 in Great Britain and a DLM1 in Northern Ireland. Parts of this have to be filled in and signed by a qualified doctor. It is the responsibility of the applicant to arrange and pay for its completion.
	The medical report is a general assessment covering various aspects of the applicant’s health that may impact on their fitness to drive. Some elements of the report are generally required to be carried out face to face, such as eyesight and blood pressure tests.
	The report provides for a formal screening of an applicant’s medical circumstances to address the greater road safety risks involved in driving larger vehicles as well as the longer time that professional drivers spend at the wheel. The requirement for a medical report at the age of 45 and over reflects the potential impact of age on the health of drivers.
	The medical report itself does not determine fitness to drive if a medical condition is identified through the process. The relevant licensing authority will consider the information provided by the medical report and, if necessary, carry out a medical investigation before deciding whether a licence should be granted. If appropriate, a licence may be issued for 1, 2 or 3 years to allow for regular review of the condition.
	There remains an obligation on licence applicants to make a declaration about their health on the licence application form.
	Although it does not form part of their NHS contract, around 80% of medical reports are completed by NHS GPs on a private basis. In the current conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic, NHS doctors have not been available to meet the demand for completing these reports to support licence applications.
	If licences are not issued there would be a substantial reduction in the availability of lorry and bus drivers and, potentially, drivers of emergency vehicles who are subject to lorry and bus licensing requirements given the size of the vehicles. In the case of lorry drivers in particular, this will in turn cause disruption to supply lines that are vital to the response to the pandemic and potentially put thousands of people out of work. The loss of these drivers will be in addition to the reduction in the workforce caused by drivers being off sick with the virus itself.
	However, issuing or renewing licences without a medical report presents a potential road safety risk. This is likely to persist beyond the period of the Covid-19 pandemic given the majority of drivers are granted a 5-year licence under existing legislation. Because of the urgency of the situation in Great Britain, a scheme to issue 1-year licences without a medical report was announced on 17 April 2020 and implemented fully on 5 May 2020.
	In doing this, the Government has had to balance the need to keep drivers on the road in the current crisis and the risks to road safety. The scheme therefore focuses on drivers currently working in the transport sector who are vital to maintaining critical supply lines and services. For this reason, the scheme only applies to those looking to renew an existing lorry or bus licence where a medical report is normally required.
	The scheme in Great Britain only applies to the renewal of licences that expire on or after 1 January 2020 and where the applicant cannot provide a medical report. Drivers whose licences expired before 1 January 2020 would have had the opportunity to obtain a medical report before the impact of the pandemic and are therefore not eligible to take advantage of the temporary arrangements.
	The sections for Great Britain will be retrospective and support the temporary scheme by making the 1-year expiry date of licences issued without a medical report enforceable.
	The sections for Northern Ireland make similar provisions to those made for Great Britain. However, the section is not retrospective as Northern Ireland has not already issued any 1-year licences without a medical report.