Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency
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DSA Online services for business
* Services move to Business Link
* Transport Office Portal to close
* Change from 1 April
There are about to be some important changes to where you can find many Driving Standards Agency (DSA) services on the internet.
If you are a driving instructor, transport operator, motorcycle instructor, driving instructor trainer or a lorry, bus or taxi driver, the Transport Office Portal currently offers you online access to a range of Department for Transport (DfT) transactional services and tools, many of which are owned by DSA.
From 1 April you should access most of those services through the Business Link website at http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/transport
Services moving to Business Link include:
* information about becoming and operating as an approved driving instructor (ADI);
* information about Driver CPC and a facility for trainers and delegated examiners to record periodic training;
* a facility for trainer bookers to book multiple training slots for theory test candidates;
* the Register of Post-test Motorcycle Trainers (RPMT) and how to become one;
* access to other motoring services such as vehicle tax, driving tests, driving licence services, etc;
* downloadable application forms;
* information about regulations and legislation.
You will still be able to find the information you need. There will be a new theme of Transport on the "My Business" section of Business Link's website and, for a while, customers still using the old Transport Office web address will be redirected automatically.
What is Business Link?
The Business Link website is a Government portal for UK business customers. It offers practical help and advice on all aspects of running a business and gives access to clear, simple, and trustworthy information.
The site has been developed with the help of subject experts within Government and relevant business-support organisations. The aim is to help businesses comply with regulations and improve their performance.
Whether you're starting up, already running a business, or looking to grow and develop, http://www.businesslink.gov.uk can help with:
* managing finances
* employing people
* finding and
keeping customers
* paying the correct tax
* complying
with legislation
* trading internationally
* understanding
regulations in your business sector
* finding out about events
and support near you
* identifying grants and support
schemes
* finding a local adviser through your regional
Business Link services.
Business Link is the preferred web portal for any business customers seeking Government advice. It provides simple and accessible ways for businesses to deal with Government.
Directgov
Not all of DSA's services that were previously available on Transport Office were aimed solely at business users. That means the following services, aimed more at individual citizens, will be moving to http://www.direct.gov.uk/motoring:
* search for approved Register of Post-test Motorcycle Trainers (RPMT) trainers
* rider training and development evaluation (online form)
* information about the Official Register of Driving Instructor Trainers (ORDIT).
There will also be new information pages for experienced drivers who want to enhance their existing driving skills by obtaining a licence and taking tests to drive additional categories of vehicles, such as lorries, buses and taxis.
Useful addresses:
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/transport
http://www.direct.gov.uk/motoring
http://www.direct.gov.uk/drivingtest
For further information contact:
John Atkin, Head of Press
and eCommunications, Driving Standards Agency
Tel: 0115 936
6133
Email: John.Atkin@dsa.gsi.gov.uk
Notes to Editors:
1. The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) is an executive agency * of the Department for Transport.
2. The DSA's vision is "Safe Driving for Life" with an overall mission to contribute towards a Government target of achieving a 40% reduction in riders and drivers killed or seriously injured in road accidents, in the age group up to 24 years, by 2010.
3. Current information on road casualties is available from the Department for Transport website: http://www.dft.gov.uk
4. The Agency's aim is to promote road safety through setting standards for drivers, riders and trainers, testing drivers and riders fairly and efficiently, maintaining the registers of Approved Driving Instructors; Large Goods Vehicle Instructors; Fleet Trainers; Driving Instructor Trainers and Post Test Motorcycle Trainers; supervising Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) for learner motorcyclists; and driver education and the provision of learning resources.
5. DSA is a trading fund * with an expected turnover of around £199 million for the year 2008/9, fully funded by fee income and revenue from its activities.
6. DSA employs over 2,700 staff, of which some 2,000 are driving examiners based at over 400 test centres across mainland Great Britain. In 2007/2008 the Agency conducted 1.8 million practical tests for car drivers, over 95,000 vocational tests and 94,000 motorcycle rider tests. A total of 1.7 million theory tests were carried out at 158 centres. At the end of the year there were around 43,600 people on the Register of Approved Driving Instructors.
7. DSA was one of the first Government Agencies to introduce an online booking service. Candidates can book and manage their theory and practical test appointments on line at http://www.direct.gov.uk/drivingtest
* Executive agency:
An executive agency is semi-detached from its parent department and manages its own budget with freedom from ad hoc, day to day intervention and much of central, government-wide regulation. They are run under the organisation and direction of a Chief Executive recruited through open competition. An executive agency has accountability for the performance of specific operational tasks as a corporate unit, including focused performance targets set by the parent department and personal accountability of the chief executive for performance.
* Trading Fund:
A trading fund is a means of financing trading activities undertaken by Government that would previously have been financed by annual appropriation from Parliament. A trading fund permits the establishment of a self-accounting unit that remains under the control and management of Ministers and accountable to Parliament through Ministers, but has greater freedom to manage its financial affairs. Effectively that means the trading fund body can use its income to settle its liabilities and retain year-end cash balances.
Establishing the trading fund does not alter the Agency's constitutional position and it remains part of the Department for Transport.
