GovWire

How the scheme works

You can apply to provide courses to drink-drive offenders to help stop them from reoffending.

Offenders can be offered a rehabilitation course to reduce their driving ban if:

• theyre found guilty of a drink-drive offence
• their ban is for 12 months or more

Their ban will be reduced if they complete the course within a certain time. The ban is usually reduced by a quarter.

How to set up a course

1. Apply to have your course approved. Include details about your proposed course, and the fee of 1,000. You have to show you can run enough courses to meet demand.

2. Run courses in the location youve specified once youre approved. Youll need to issue certificates to offenders who complete the course, and notices to those who dont.

3. Send a report every 3 months about the courses youve run. Include a fee of 7 for every offender who completed a course.

4. Reapply for approval after 7 years if you want to continue providing courses.

Responsibility for DDRS

The drink-drive rehabilitation scheme is overseen by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA). It uses the Joint Approvals Unit for Periodic Training (JAUPT) to help approve and monitor courses.

Apply for course approval

Before you apply, decide if its practical to provide DDRS courses.

Consider things like:

• how many courses are already available in the areas you want to cover
• how many offenders are being referred in those areas
• whether you can show that youre able to run courses successfully
• your fees - you can charge up to 250 for a course - but it has to be affordable to offenders

How to apply

Download and fill in the application form, and send it to JAUPT

You need to give details about:

• your organisation
• which areas you want to run courses in
• the content of the course and how it links to the course syllabus
• where theyll be held
• the trainers youll use and their qualifications and experience
• how youll run the courses, record information, and issue certificates
• any accreditation your organisation already has, for example, ISO
• how youll pay fees

The form gives full details of the evidence you can use to support your application.

Apply for drink-drive rehabilitation scheme course approval

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After youve applied

Youll get a confirmation email to let you know JAUPT has got your application. It will be processed within 30 working days.

JAUPT will contact you if anything is missing from your application.

Decision about your application

DVSA will email you to tell you if your application has been:

• approved - and if any conditions apply to it
• refused

Appeal against DVSAs decision

You can appeal to DVSA within 28 days if it refuses your application. DVSA will take your appeal into account and tell you its decision.

If you still disagree with the decision, appeal to the General Regulatory Chamber.

Your case will be dealt with by a tribunal in the General Regulatory Chamber.

The tribunal is independent of the government. It will listen to both sides of the argument before reaching a decision.

Run your courses when youre approved

You need to:

• book offenders on to your course
• register participants and check their identities
• train and educate them using your approved course
• collect feedback and evaluate your course
• give certificates of completion and notices of non-completion to participants
• manage any complaints about your course

Send reports about your courses and pay fees

You need to send reports to JAUPT every 3 months about the courses youve run. These should include:

• the number of referrals to your course, and the number completed and not completed
• which areas of the country they were held in
• the dates, start and end times, and trainers used for each course
• details of any new trainers and their qualifications/experience

Youll also need to pay the 7 fee for each offender who completes a course.

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