GoSkills: Clearing the road to the driver CPC

More GoSkills briefings scheduled as implementation looms

June and July 2008 will see GoSkills, the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for Passenger Transport, host more free to attend PCV Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) information briefings – to advise Bus and Coach operators on the implications of the CPC and to address industry concerns ahead of implementation1.

John Smith, GoSkills’ PCV Driver Training Adviser, said: “As the industry enters the final 100 days before implementation of the CPC, GoSkills is keen to ensure that Bus and Coach operators who have not yet included themselves on the CPC journey do so, and that those who have been inducted from the outset are kept up-to-date with the latest news.”

The CPC events being held in England will also include a presentation on the funding opportunities available through the Learning and Skills Council’s Train to Gain initiative2.

Dates and venues of information briefings:

Thursday 5 June 2008: Kettering Conference Centre, Thurston Drive, Kettering, Northants*

Wednesday 11 June 2008: Novotel, 1 West Quay Road, Southampton

Tuesday 17 June 2008: The Metropole Hotel, Temple Street, Llandrindod Wells, Powys

Wednesday 18 June 2008: The Ivy Bush Hotel, 11 Spilman Street, Carmarthen

Tuesday 24 June 2008: National Railway Museum, Leeman Road, York

Thursday 3 July 2008: Huntingdon Racecourse, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire*

Thursday 10 July 2008: Conwy Business Centre, Junction Way, Llandudno Junction, Conwy, North Wales

All briefings, except those at York and Conwy, commence at 10am and conclude at 1.30pm with lunch.
The York event starts at 1pm and will end before 4pm. Conwy begins at 6.30pm and is scheduled to end at 9.30pm.

To book a place for any of the above events (except Kettering and Huntingdon) please contact: Ann Bubbear on 07841 050 361 or email: ann.bubbear@goskills.org.

*For Kettering please contact Hannah Ferguson, Event Coordinator on 0845 058 6644 or email: events@businesslinkem.co.uk.

*For Huntingdon please contact Helen Bosett, Sector & Area Co-ordinator, Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce on 01223 209815 or email: h.bosett@cambscci.co.uk.

More Driver CPC information briefings are planned. Keep up-to-date by checking on the GoSkills website: www.goskills.org

Ends

Press enquiries please contact:
Richard Tibenham – Communications Manager - 0121 635 5530, email: :richard.tibenham@goskills.org
or Fraser Tennant – Communications Executive – 0121 635 5531, email: fraser.tennant@goskills.org

Notes to Editors:

1. The EU Directive that introduces the PCV/LGV Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) comes into force across all European Union member states on 10 September 2008 for bus and coach drivers. In future, just holding a vocational driving licence will not be sufficient for someone who wishes to drive such vehicles for a living. Employers will have a responsibility to ensure all the drivers they employ hold the correct certificate and licence. The benefits of the PCV Driver CPC will be improvements in the overall quality of employees available to the bus and coach industries, an increase in road safety as well as the promotion of a more professional image, attracting more people to drive buses and coaches for a living.

2. Train to Gain is a service from the Learning and Skills Council, helping businesses get the training they need to succeed. An important element of Train to Gain is skills brokerage that offers free impartial advice, and helps find the best training solution from high quality and responsive training providers to meet business needs. Train to Gain aims to encourage all businesses and individuals to value and realise the benefits that learning and skills can bring and to invest appropriately. To find out more about how Train to Gain can help visit: traintogain.gov.uk.