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Are you a minibus driver?
People who work for Medway Council or drive on behalf of the council must be trained under the Minibus Driver Awareness Scheme (MiDAS). Based on the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents' (ROSPA) minibus code of practice, the scheme provides award-winning training.
Full courses and refresher courses for individual drivers are available from £65 to £100. Courses to train a driver as an assessor range from £200 to £400 and allow that person to train other drivers. The Community Transport Association (CTA) maintains lists of MiDAS-accredited training providers.
Regional list for Kent
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CTA number
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Organisation
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Telephone
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Contact name
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85737
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Age Care
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01732 741488
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Rachel Blundell
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39130
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Bexley Accessible Transport Scheme
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01322 333377
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Andrew Grieve
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20746
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London Borough of Bexley Youth Service
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0208 836 8235
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662
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Bexley Volunteer Bureau
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0208 304 0911
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Trish Giles
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5560
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Bowles Outdoor Centre
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01892 665665
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Mike Thompson
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98002
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British Red Cross
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01634 821533
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Trevor Styles
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5628
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Bromley Community Transport
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0208 663 3345
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Trevor Browne
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20252
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Centaur Overland Travel Ltd
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0181 300 3001
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Anthony Hobson
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19961
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Cheyne Middle School (Sheerness)
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01795 662155
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Maureen Snelling
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97729
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Dover College
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01304 205969
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Rikki Sullivan
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16815
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East Kent Community NHS Trust
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01227 594847
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19237
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East Kent Hospital NHS Trust
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01303 258624
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Greg Bowyer
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16873
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Kent Council for Voluntary Youth Services
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01634 579833
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Barry Clout
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45555
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Kings School Canterbury
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01227 595685
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57055
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Leonard Cheshire
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0208 300 1917
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Alec Winch
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4662
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London Borough of Bexley (Education)
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0208 303 7777
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Alan Heylock
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16621
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MCCH Society Ltd
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01622 769100
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16990
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Minster College
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01795 873591
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17279
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Mote Lodge
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01580 893996
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Leonard Cheshire
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19891
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National Trust (Sheerness)
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01795 583675
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20167
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Pent Valley School
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01303 277161
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Beverley Peacock
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13153
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Rectory Paddock School
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01689 870 519
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Maurice Perry
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63960
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Salvation Army - Chatham Corps
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01634 843689
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Stephen J Scoulding
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63753
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St Cecilia's Cheshire Home
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0208 460 8377
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Alec Winch
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39287
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St. Lawrence College
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01843 587666
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Nigel Cavaglieri
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To find out about training an accredited assessor or for more about MiDAS, visit the CTA website:
phone 08707 743586; or contact the council's Road Safety Team using the details at the foot of this page.
MiDAS training
The scheme is organised by the Community Transport Association (CTA) (www.ctauk.org) and endorsed by RoSPA (www.rospa.com). These groups offer a variety of driver-training information to all local organisations that wish to improve the driving standards of their employees. In particular, please note the Minibus Safety Code of Practice (pdf 3,293KB) which can also be found on the the RoSPA website. To use this file, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have this on your computer, please use our advice page to download it.
Legal requirements
Find out about the law on driving a minibus, including the type of licence you should hold, driving abroad and what you should do if you do not have the minibus entitlement at www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/DriverLicensing/WhatCanYouDriveAndYourObligations/DG_4022498.
Learning to drive a Passenger Carrying Vehicle (PCV)
If you passed your car (Category B) driving test for the first time after 1 January 1997, you are only licensed to drive vehicles with up to eight passenger seats (excluding the driver). To drive a minibus (nine to 16 passenger seats) you must be aged 21 years or older and hold a Category D1 entitlement.
Getting this entitlement can be a costly process but when you qualify, you will have demonstrated an ability above that of the ordinary car licence holder.
To find out more, visit the Driving Standards Agency website (www.dsa.gov.uk).
Minibus reassessments
The council's Road Safety Team no longer carries out minibus reassessments. Candidates should now contact other service providers or undertake the MiDAS training course.
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