Letters have been sent out from the DVSA concerning PSVAR Enforcement on home-to-school and rail replacement services.

UKCOA has informed B&CB after checking with the Accessibility team at the DfT, that the letter is designed to check operators are complying with the PSVAR minimum levels of compliance for their Rail Replacement and Home to School Transport fleets that applied from 1 August 2024. It also reminds operators that, as things stand at present, all vehicles used on these services should be fully compliant with PSVAR from 1 August 2026. The UKCOA acknowledges that the wording of the letter ‘could have been a lot better’.

The DfT is still reviewing the responses from the PSVAR Call for Evidence and this may result in a further set of exemptions from 2026, UKCOA says.

PSVAR levels of compliance that apply from 1 August 2024

Band A – For fleet sizes between one and five vehicles – At least 50% of the fleet partially compliant;

Band B – For fleet sizes between six and nine vehicles – At least one fully compliant vehicle and at least 50% of the rest of the fleet partially compliant;

Band C – For fleet sizes between ten and 29 vehicles – At least 15% of the fleet fully compliant and at least 50% of the rest of the fleet partially compliant;

Band D – For fleet sizes of 30 vehicles or more – At least 25% of the fleet fully compliant and at least 50% of the rest of the fleet partially compliant;

The ‘fleet’ counts as those vehicles used on home-to-school and rail replacement duties; vehicles that are never used on this work (or are used on home-to-school services that do not carry any paying passengers) can be excluded from the fleet totals.