The Arriva South group of operators have become members of DVSA Earned Recognition (ER). That achievements follows the earlier accreditation of Arriva’s London operations as part of the scheme, with an aspiration in hand that all other Arriva UK bus subsidiaries will follow soon.
Joining ER recently were Arriva’s Kent and Surrey, Kent Thameside, Midlands, Midlands North, and The Shires O-Licences. They takes to 89 the total number of PCV O-Licences that form part of ER, across both coach and bus.
Gaining ER membership has taken those subsidiaries around a year to complete. The Arriva London O-Licences were founder members of the scheme in 2018 and the group has now targeted adding its businesses in North East and North West England, Wales, and Yorkshire.
Membership of ER comes after assurance is received by DVSA via a third-party audit that compliance and safety standards are adhered to, along with proof of the presence of robust systems and processes to monitor performance.
Benefits of participation include being less likely to have vehicles stopped by DVSA staff at the roadside, and access to future DVSA incentives.
Speaking about the Arriva South accreditations by ER, Engineering Standards and Assurance Manager Kevin Taylor says: “We are really pleased that the hard work of pulling together all of the evidence for DVSA has paid off.
“Achieving Earned Recognition reiterates the fact that we have high standards of safety at Arriva South, and our staff and customers should be proud of that. We are hoping for further good news on this very soon for the rest of the business.”
A number of other operators from the coach and bus industry have gained ER accreditation during 2023. Earlier this year, DVSA introduced a Road to Earned Recognition trial for new operators.
List of all operators that are accredited by Earned Recognition here.
