Clause 3
Driving Instruction (Suspension and Exemption Powers) Bill
10:00 am
Willie Rennie (Dunfermline and West Fife, Liberal Democrat)
I am grateful to the Minister for introducing the group of amendments. He has identified a potential weakness in the Bill, because my original Bill did not include trainees. That is a large number of people who could, potentially, teach for ever—they do not have to become fully fledged approved driving instructors and can remain trainees for a very long time, until they take that final test. Therefore, there was a potentially large loophole for people who might want to subvert the system. I am grateful to the Minister for tabling the amendments.
We are caught between the old system of training registration and the new one, which is more of a block exemption. The clause will eventually straddle both systems and allow a proper supervisory arrangement to cover trainees. It also introduces a charge, which was already there under the old system, so there is no change. The Bill allows a charge to be introduced so that we can fund the supervision of the trainees, so that they cannot subvert the system. I am grateful to the Minister for tabling the amendments. I shall close my remarks there.