Graham Vidler and Keith McNally met with senior DfT officials today to discuss PSVAR for coaches

They discussed the end of the current exemptions and potential options thereafter

The Department reiterated the desire to increase accessibility and we agreed to continue to work with Government and other stakeholders to deliver this in a way that is manageable and fair for operators

CPT is in a unique position in that we are able to reach a wide section of the industry - both operators & manufacturers – and today’s discussion was part of a long-running conversation with the Department that led to the original PSVAR exemptions and the extensions to those

Graham & Keith took the opportunity to press for an early decision regarding the position post-July (when the current home-to-school special authorisations end) and we understand that Ministers are now actively considering the options

Officials understand the need for clarity as soon as possible in assisting operators that have been hit hard by the pandemic but want to make the right decisions with regard to increasing accessibility

We also reiterated the challenges relating to infrastructure to enable the use of external wheelchair lifts and outlined our initial discussions with the PSVAR Working Group that is looking at longer term solutions

It’s likely that we will need to gather some more information from members very soon to help inform the advice going to Ministers so please look out for further updates and please do your best to respond