Article

'Safe Road Use' programme

DRIVING STANDARDS AGENCY News Release (DSA 30/08) issued by The Government News Network on 23 June 2008

Crucial steps to bring about a major change in driving attitudes across Great Britain took place at a high-level meeting in Glasgow.

Police officers, road safety experts and educationalists met at the headquarters of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) to agree and progress a national 'Safe Road Use' programme which forms a major part of the national Learning to Drive campaign.

The campaign has been launched by Secretary of State for Transport, Ruth Kelly, and its principal aim is to bring about a change in UK driving attitudes, mainly by ensuring young people become more aware of road safety issues and cultivate better attitudes towards driving in general.

Improved driver education lies at the core of the initiative being handled by the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) for the Department for Transport. In turn, the DSA has brought in the SQA, using their expertise to design and implement educational material for youngsters aged 14-16. The campaign specifically aims to educate and inform young people on safe road and safe driving techniques before they actually get behind the wheel!

The fresh approach is part of the Government's plan to inform and educate road users towards better driver rather than restricting and legislating. This approach lies at the heart of the national Learning to Drive consultation from which the DSA will extract and put forward new guidelines to reform the GB driving test. The SQA summit is at the heart of this complex process designed to lead to an educational qualification in safe road use. As the educational aspects are agreed, it is hoped the first elements will be launched in Scotland by the end of 2008, followed by a roll-out to schools, colleges and youth training or pre-apprenticeship colleges in the rest of the country.

Rosemary Thew, chief executive of the Driving Standards Agency, said: "We believe we need a fresh cultural and educational approach to improving driving standards and we have consulted with experts to achieve this. I am confident that the end product from SQA and the DSA will give fresh insight into the trials and tribulations youngsters face when they first take to our busy roads."

Roderic Gillespie, from SQA, said: "We are looking forward to working in partnership with others to implement a Pre-Driver Qualification which will harness young people's enthusiasm and at the same time give them a qualification."

At the heart of the consultation is a micro-website launched by the DSA to encourage members of the public to leave their views on proposals. You can register your views on http://www.dsa.gov.uk/learningtodri ve .

Notes to Editors:

Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly launched proposals on May 7 for updating and improving the learning to drive and testing process.

She is keen to look at the way drivers are trained and tested with the objective of ensuring newly-qualified drivers possess the safety skills needed to drive on Britain's busy roads.

During the consultation the DSA aims to gather opinions on a range of proposals, including;

* Changes to the theory test

* Making the practical test more realistic

* Providing a pre driver qualification in road safety

* Introducing a student workbook

* Providing more information to help choose a driving instructor

A response is invited by September.

1. The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) is an executive agency * of the Department for Transport.

2. The DSA's vision is "Safe Driving for Life" with an overall mission to contribute towards a Government target of achieving a 40% reduction in riders and drivers killed or seriously injured in road accidents, in the age group up to 24 years, by 2010.

3. Current information on road casualties is available from the Department for Transport website: http://www.dft.gov.uk

4. The Agency's aim is to promote road safety through setting standards for drivers, riders and trainers, testing drivers and riders fairly and efficiently, maintaining the registers of Approved Driving Instructors; Large Goods Vehicle Instructors; Fleet Trainers; Driving Instructor Trainers and Post Test Motorcycle Trainers; supervising Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) for learner motorcyclists; and driver education and the provision of learning resources.

5. DSA is a trading fund * with an expected turnover of around £199 million for the year 2008/9, fully funded by fee income and revenue from its activities. 6. DSA employs over 2,700 staff, of which some 2,000 are driving examiners based at over 400 test centres across mainland Great Britain. In 2007/2008 the Agency conducted 1.8 million practical tests for car drivers, over 95,000 vocational tests and 94,000 motorcycle rider tests. A total of 1.7 million theory tests were carried out at 158 centres. At the end of the year there were around 43,600 people on the Register of Approved Driving Instructors.

7. DSA was one of the first Government Agencies to introduce an online booking service. Candidates can book and manage their theory and practical test appointments on line at http://www.direct.gov.uk/drivingtest

* Executive agency:

An executive agency is semi-detached from its parent department and manages its own budget with freedom from ad hoc, day to day intervention and much of central, government-wide regulation. They are run under the organisation and direction of a Chief Executive recruited through open competition. An executive agency has accountability for the performance of specific operational tasks as a corporate unit, including focused performance targets set by the parent department and personal accountability of the chief executive for performance.

* Trading Fund:

A trading fund is a means of financing trading activities undertaken by Government that would previously have been financed by annual appropriation from Parliament. A trading fund permits the establishment of a self-accounting unit that remains under the control and management of Ministers and accountable to Parliament through Ministers, but has greater freedom to manage its financial affairs. Effectively that means the trading fund body can use its income to settle its liabilities and retain year-end cash balances. Establishing the trading fund does not alter the Agency's constitutional position and it remains part of the Department for Transport.