On this page you can find our Advice Resources. These are in-depth document and guides which cover a wide range of topics relating to the operation of community transport. If you need more information, or if you can’t find the information you’re looking for, you can call CTA’s Advice Service on 0345 130 6195 or take a look at our Frequently Asked Questions page.
We have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information contained within the leaflets but it should be noted that they are only guides and should be treated as such.
Driver Licensing
These updated resources cover driver licensing – the licences and training required for different types of community transport activities. There is distinct information for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as they have different regulations and guidance. Each How to Guide includes a flow-chart to understand what licenses your drivers need as well as more information on those licenses including renewals and checks.
Driver Licensing Guide - Great Britain
Driver Licensing Guide - Northern Ireland
Recruiting and Supporting Volunteers
Volunteers play a crucial role co-ordinating and delivering community transport services across the UK. This new suite of tools and resources will explore third sector best practice in volunteer recruitment and retention and are designed to enable community transport operators to bring on board the time, experience and skills of volunteers which will be vital to sustaining services in the short, medium and long term.
Permits and Operator Licensing
When using a minibus or an MPV, an organisation is considered an ‘operator’ and needs the right permit or licence to run its services. Permit and operator licensing is different to a driver’s licence, as it doesn’t relate to an individual, rather to a service. In the case of community transport, most services are run under a permit, rather than a licence.
Understanding what you need to make your service compliant can be confusing for both new and longstanding CT operators. We’ve developed this suite of resources to help you navigate what your service needs and how to access it.
BUTTON
Setting Up a Volunteer Car Scheme
We have worked closely with our members to develop a toolkit to help communities and organisations set up and successfully sustain a volunteer car scheme. Setting up a volunteer car scheme is something that will certainly have an important impact on your community. All over the UK, volunteer car schemes are making sure that people can get to the places they want and need to be, providing such an important life line to so many.
BUTTON
Setting Up a Community eBike Scheme
Increasing numbers of Community Transport operators are delivering eBike hire and share schemes to encourage and expand access to active travel. This new resource sets out what these schemes can look like, how to access relevant funding and examples of best practice from Scotland and Wales.
BUTTON
Accessing Funding for Community Transport
Funding is more important than ever for community transport providers, especially as they continue to recover from the effects of lock-down and begin to re-start their services. These are challenging times, so it’s become even more important than normal to review your funding streams and consider looking for new opportunities to bring money into your organisation to diversify your income over the coming months. Our new suite of resources, developed by our 'Connecting Communities in Wales project, look at what you need to consider when searching for funding.
BUTTON
Risk Assessment and Risk Management
All organisations have a responsibility to keep their staff, volunteers, and customers safe. A key element in ensuring that safety is mapping and understanding the things in your organisation which might put people at risk, and how to control them – this is known as risk management. We have worked with our members to develop a suite of resources to help you to do this in your organisation including COVID-19 specific resources for members who are re-starting services they’ve previously been unable to run.
BUTTON
Operator Policy Templates
We have created 11 brand new policy templates for CT operators to utilise when setting up or reviewing their working practices. Here you will find policies from safeguarding to cash handling, anti-bribery, volunteering and vulnerable adult care templates which can be used in-house within your organisation.
BUTTON