LETTER TO THE EDITOR THE NOT SO SOCIAL AND NOT SO KIND VOLUNTEER DRIVER


Dear All


You may recall that I have waxed lyrical about volunteer driv- ers in previous issues of PHTM, as has your Editor.


We thought


you might enjoy a bit of an update from var- ious sources as to the current position.


THE STORY SO FAR


The volunteer drivers were established years ago to bridge a gap between public and private transport systems. Community car organisations were set up in rural areas to cater for the needs of the elderly and the vulnerable passengers who needed to attend doc- tor and hospital appointments, and who had no access to a car or public trans- port.


In the first instance the volunteer driver was a person who had their own car with perhaps a few hours a week spare. They were allowed to make a charge to cover their expenses. The Government set a rate of 40p per mile for the first 10,000 miles and then 25p per mile thereafter.


Insurers


agreed that they would cover not-for- profit under the car sharing scheme; how- ever, any volunteer driver MUST inform their insurer of their activities. They must also inform HM Rev- enue and Customs if they exceed the stat- ed limits. For the first few years of the existence of this scheme, the vol- unteer driver was happy to do the odd mile here and there out of “social kind- ness”, helping those whom the service was intended for, and in


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no way got anywhere near the limits of what has been agreed by the insurers or HMRC. As the years have passed the volunteer drivers have increased and their role has changed: most are now employed by local authorities and the ambulance service; the amount of miles they cover has increased as well. We at the NPHA have evi- dence that some of these drivers are doing in excess of 40,000 miles per year. They employ the vol- unteer driver because they believe it is much cheaper than using a taxi or private hire service - which is ironic because the sole purpose of set- ting up the volunteer driver scheme was to provide transport where no other trans- port was available.


OVER THE ODDS


Many local authorities and the ambulance service pay their vol- unteer drivers over the stated rate to encourage them to carry on doing this, and to encourage more to join them. In fact we have evidence of local authorities paying well in excess of any stated rates. The activities of the volunteer driver have been of some con- cern to the taxi trade for a long time. We have lost a large per- centage of our work, as any PHTM reader will know. We have been working on this issue for many years; we have always believed that these volunteer drivers are no more than an unli- censed trade with no checks and control. Our recent investiga- tions have revealed


that they are an undis- covered trade as well. We have contacted all the major insurers and put the evidence to them, and they have all replied along the same lines: if the volunteer driver exceeds the stated rates - ie. more than 10,000 miles p.a. at 40p per mile, then the insurance would be invalid. We have also contact- ed HMRC and they have stated that if the volunteer driver exceeds the stated rates, they would be liable to paying tax. Further, we have con- tacted the benefit agencies who have stated that anyone doing over the stated limits could be guilty of benefit theft and open to prosecution. Even worse, some benefits don’t allow the claimants to earn anything, let alone 40p a mile. Therefore any volunteer driver who is claiming bene- fits could be breaking the law. We have contacted VOSA, and they have said that anyone driv- ing without insurance - or with invalid insur- ance - is open to prosecution and hav- ing their car seized and crushed. On the evidence we provided they even said that the vehicle and driver should be licensed. The funny thing here is, every one of the organisations men- tioned above thought the volunteer driver was acting out of social kindness, doing a few miles per week - exactly what they were set up to do in the first place. None of them was aware of the scale of the activities. The only people who are really aware of what the volunteer driver


is up to are the organisations that employ them, and the volunteer drivers themselves.


THE REALITY


Putting aside for a moment the financial implications of all this, take a look for a moment at what really happens on the street. Not a million miles away from any- one’s patch can be found a special needs school. One such school has the provi- so that only authorised taxis or private vehicles are allowed on the prem- ises. As recently as the week before press deadline for this issue, a special needs adviser was doing as he always does: checking vehicles and drivers coming and going from this special needs school. On this particular day an ordinary saloon came into the enclo- sure; the special needs adviser asked who he was, as he did not have a badge and the vehicle did not have a licence plate. He gave his name, and told the adviser that he didn’t need a badge or indeed any identification; he was picking up so-and-so. When the adviser checked, this man’s name was on the list of approved volunteer drivers; however, the vehicle was not regis- tered or on any approved list.


In


other words, this per- son could well have been anybody off the street, in a vehicle without suitable insur- ance, and could have picked up the pupil and absconded with them.


When the adviser reported his concern to the Powers That


Be, he was told virtu- ally to mind his own business; “it comes cheap” to use these volunteer drivers. Somewhat perturbed by this incident, the adviser came back to the school the next morning. This time, amongst the autho- rised taxis/PHVs and private motors belonging to parents, there was another unlicensed vehicle, this time one that accommodates wheelchair passen- gers. Our adviser watched as the driver - a lady in this instance, who is not a regular volunteer driv- er but a carer - pushed the passen- ger, facing forwards, down the ramp out of the vehicle, then ran around the outside of the vehicle and met him at the bottom of the ramp. Needless to say,


the entire


manoeuvre was done incorrectly - a wheel- chair passenger should always be brought down the ramp backwards, and guided every inch of the way.


AMAZED


The special needs adviser was even more taken aback by this, and spoke to the lady, asking her why she didn’t have an escort - which is a legal requirement for this particular county council for all contract work.


The lady


replied that her hus- band had assisted her with the passenger at the other end, but he’d had to go to work.


Again, when the adviser reported the incident to the head office his concerns were dismissed. Our investigations have also discovered


that some organisa- tions are fully aware that they are putting the volunteer driver(s) in the tax bracket and the realms of licens- ing with the work they offer and the rate they pay.


In other words, they are putting the volunteer driver at risk.


The reason that we, the licensed trade, have seen no guide- lines on what the volunteer driver can or cannot do is quite simple: they are an undiscovered trade. No one who has the power to check what they are doing was aware of the scale of the activities. Well, WATCH THIS SPACE, readers, it’s all about to change.


Any licensing officer out there reading this, get your pencil sharp- ened and ready to process all those new driver and vehicle applications.


Any


benefit or HMRC investigators out there, best sharpen your pencil to round up all those volunteer drivers who haven’t declared their earn- ings. Best of all, any scrap yards out there: could you make some more room, as there could be an influx of vehicles coming in that have no insur- ance.


Most important of all: EVERY READER of this paper MUST inform those authori- ties of any activity of any volunteer driver so they can pass on all the relevant infor- mation to the correct officers, who will do some investigations. If you don’t know where to report such things, get in touch with the NPHA at the usual addresses.


Until the next time - CW


PHTM OCTOBER 2009


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