Explanatory note

These Regulations are made in consequence of defects in the Rehabilitation Courses (Relevant Drink Offences) Regulations 2012 (the “2012 Regulations”). They also amend the 2012 Regulations in consequence of the merging of the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) and the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) to establish the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).

The Regulations amend the definition of “relevant offender” in paragraph 6 of regulation 5 of the 2012 Regulations. Regulation 5 of the 2012 Regulations provides for the payment of fees in relation to drink-drive rehabilitation courses. A fee of £1000 is payable on each application. A continuing approval fee is payable by successful applicants following the grant of approval. The continuing approval fee is payable quarterly in arrears and calculated according to the number of offenders completing the course during the previous quarter (£7 per offender).

Regulation 2(2) of these Regulations clarifies the method of calculating the fee payable under the 2012 Regulations in the event that a course ceases to be approved. If a course ceases to be approved, the provider of the course is no longer the provider of an approved course for the purposes of sections 34A to 34C of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 and is then unable to certify that an approved course has been completed. In such a case, the number of relevant offenders to be used in the calculation of the continuing approval fee is the number of offenders who complete an approved course in the period commencing with the start of a relevant period and ending on the date on which approval of the course ceases.

Regulation 2(3) and (4) substitutes the certificate of completion and notice of non-completion in Schedules 1 and 2 to the 2012 Regulations. References to the DSA are replaced with references to the DVSA and other changes of terminology and format are made.

A full Impact Assessment of the effect of the 2012 Regulations on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available alongside the 2012 Regulations at www.legislation.gov.uk. This instrument clarifies the 2012 Regulations and accordingly no new Impact Assessment is required.

An explanatory memorandum is available alongside this instrument on the website http://www.legislation.gov.uk