Consultation outcome: Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (DCPC) changes

Published: 11 December 2023
By Chris Haycock

Driver CPC changes: overview of responses and government response HTML

The consultation outcome documents on this page are:

• overview of consultation responses and government response
• ICF analysis of consultation responses
• a list of all questions asked and responses to questions not analysed within the above two documents

The main outcome document:

• summarises the responses to the consultation
• details the government’s responses and decisions for future delivery

A total of 1,190 consultation questionnaire responses were received, as well 16 position papers from industry stakeholders. The department also received 177 emails which were free-text based on the proposals without answering the consultation questionnaire directly.

Due to the scale of the original consultation, it is not deemed appropriate to provide a summary of every question that was asked. Two additional documents have been published alongside it. The first is analysis of the free-text responses, with some of this analysis being integrated into the consultation response. The second is a list of all consultation questions and summary of remaining responses, and where responses to a question are not covered in either the main consultation document or the ICF analysis, a summary of responses has been included.

Responses to some of the questions were compartmentalised by respondent type to allow analysis to be performed comprehensively. Response numbers across the three documents may show some slight variation.

This consultation forms part of the Smarter Regulation programme of regulatory reform announcements that began in May 2023 with the publication of Smarter Regulation to Grow the Economy. Through this consultation and further regulatory reform updates, the government will take action to reduce the burdens on business, reduce the cost of living, deliver choice to consumers, turbocharge science and innovation and drive infrastructure development.

This consultation seeks views on proposed changes to the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (DCPC). If these changes are implemented, they will only apply to drivers completing journeys within Great Britain, and Northern Ireland if authorities there agree, as DCPC is a devolved matter.

Drivers wishing to drive to, from or within the EU will still need to comply with the existing requirements due to arrangements within the UK/EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), as well as other relevant UK international obligations.

Proposed changes will therefore create 2 parallel qualifications for driving in GB and, potentially, NI:

• a national <