GovWire

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 drink-drive rehabilitation course

1. Apply to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) 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.

Check if running drink-drive rehabilitation courses is right for you

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

Apply for course approval

To apply to get your course approved, you need to send:

• a course approval application form
• a scheme of control (this sets out how youll make sure you provide high-quality courses)
• other supporting documents

Check the guidance on how to fill in the drink-drive rehabilitation course application form (PDF, 683 KB, 25 pages) before you fill in the application form.

Apply for drink-drive rehabilitation scheme course approval

PDF, 471 KB, 7 pages

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Send your applications and supporting documents toDVSAby email or post.

What happens next

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

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

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.

Scheme of control

You need to complete a scheme of control. This is the way your organisation will make sure the courses it provides are of a high standard.

It needs to give examples of what youll do to reduce risk in these areas:

• operation
• course plans
• course consistency
• course evaluation
• trainer selection

Check the guidance on what to include in a scheme of control (PDF, 102 KB, 2 pages).

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 DVSA every 3 months about the courses youve run. These should include:

• the number of referrals to y
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