St. Breward Community Bus : current Terms & Conditions for Private Hire as of July 2023. Please note these are currently under review :
St. Breward Community Bus Association
Terms and Conditions of Hire
To hire the bus you must comply with the following 5 sets of conditions: Failure to comply with these conditions may invalidate our insurance, or operating permit. In addition you will not be able to hire the bus in the future. Note that the timeframes of the various checks need to be adhered to or you will not be able to hire the bus.
- Driver(s) : Your driver:
1.1 Must be a minimum of 25 years of age and less than 70, and have held a full driving licence for at least 2 years.
1.2 Must also have passed the MiDAS course. MiDAS is the Minibus Driver Awareness Scheme and is administered by the Community Transport Association. The scheme provides a nationally recognised standard for the assessment and training of minibus drivers.
- Not for profit:
2.1 The Community Bus operates a Section 19 Permit under the 1985 Road Traffic Act. These permits are be granted to organisations that operate vehicles without a view to profit to transport their members, or the people whom the organisation exists to help. Therefore to hire the bus you must not make any profit from its use, or incidental to its use.
- Area supported by St. Breward Community Bus:
3.1 Your organisation or hirer must be based in one of the parish areas of St. Breward, Blisland, St. Mabyn, St. Tudy, Helland or Michaelstow. We don’t hire outside of that area.
- Driving Licence Check :
4.1 This check is normally carried out by our Licencing Administrator (Dave Brattle 01208 851252). Your driver must contact Dave a minimum of 7 days before hire of the Bus so he can check your driver’s licence, and if necessary arrange for the driver to test drive/familiarise themselves with the bus. Anything less than 7 days and we cannot guarantee you will get the bus. David isn’t always available so the earlier the contact the less chance of something going wrong.
4.2 The 7 day lead time also allows us to check with our insurers if there is a problem. (e.g. penalty points), and arrange a test drive (see Section 5) if needed.
4.3 Your driver will need to provide evidence to David of what vehicles they can drive or confirmation of any penalty points. This can be done one of 3 ways :
(i) Your driver can request a unique code from GOV.UK which allows you to share your driving licence details or
(ii) you can download and print a summary of your driving licence record.
(iii) If you cannot generate a code online then you can call 0300 083 0013 and DVLA will provide you with a code.
[The code lasts for up to 21 days and will enable us to make the necessary checks].
4.4 We recommend that the easiest way to comply with 4.3 is for the driver to make early contact Dave.
In addition the Driver will need to provide.
(i) Their Photocard Driving Licence (or pre 1998 Paper Licence if they have one)
(ii) Their National Insurance number
(iii) Proof of their current address eg a utility bill or bank statement not more than 3 months old.
(iv) Proof of their MiDAS qualification (See 1.2)
- Test Drive :
5.1 Following the Licence Check a test drive of the vehicle will be necessary if the driver hasn’t previously used the vehicle. This will include familiarisation with bus controls, operation and paperwork, and confirmation on date/time for picking up & returning the bus. It also allows us to assess the suitability of the driver to handle the vehicle.
5.2 The test drive must be carried out a minimum of 24 hours before hire of the bus. If you fail to do so then you won’t be able to hire the bus.
5.3 In the event that the Bus Association finds the driver is unsuitable, the hire of the bus may be refused or another driver will need to be found.
- General Information :
(i) No drinking of alchohol is allowed on the bus at any time. Failure to comply will result in being unable to use the bus again and possibly an extra charge being invoiced for any additional cleaning needed of the vehicle.
(ii) You will be invoiced after the hire has taken place. At the time of booking you will need to provide the name, address, telephone number of the appropriate person to invoice.
(iii) The invoice may include the annual Affiliation Fee if not already paid in the hire ‘year’ which runs from 1st September to 31st. August. Note that our Private Hire rate is based on miles travelled by the bus during the course of the hire not per passenger carried.
(iv) Costs : The Affiliation Fee is £5 for organisations based in St. Breward, £15 if not. This is a one off payment and covers the following 12 months. Mileage is £1.50 per mile for organisations based in St. Breward, £2.00 per mile if not. You will be invoiced after the hire when the actual mileage is known. Mileage starts and ends from the pick up/ drop off point, currently Bolts Quarry Farm, St. Breward.
(v) If having booked the bus you find that you need to cancel it then please let Phil Nance (01208 850229) know as soon as possible.
(vi) Please bear in mind that St. Breward Community Bus Association is operated by volunteers. There may be parts of the day or week when they are unavailable to answer your requests and enquiries. However we operate answerphones or you can use the bus email address (see below), and we will use our best endeavours to respond as soon as possible.
- If you require clarification on anything please contact Phil Nance (St. Breward Community Bus Secretary) using the above email address or on 01208 850229