The Music Office's Minibus

The Music Office's Minibus

Booking the Music Office minibus

The Music Office owns a Ford Transit Minibus for use by societies. The vehicle specifications are:

  • 12 seats (driver + 11 passengers)
  • A large amount of space at the back for luggage.
  • A wheelchair mount point and ramp for a twelfth passenger to sit in their own wheelchair.
  • Diesel fuelled

Booking the minibus

To book the minibus, contact the Music Office on 01392 723042 or by email music@exeter.ac.uk. You will only be able to us the minibus if you have an authorised driver to drive for you. To find out what it takes to become an authorised driver, see below.

Note - all Guild Societies must also complete a risk assessment and a passenger list to be submitted to the Guild Health and Safety Coordinator, Orlando Murrish (o.murrish@exeter.ac.uk or 01392 723546).

Current Hire Fees*

Duration of Hire Period

ExTunes

Societies

Non ExTunes

Societies

Half Day Rate (0-6 hours) £20.00 £30.00
Full Day (6-24 hours) £40.00 £60.00
Weekend (48 hours) £100.00 £150.00

* As of June 2012

Who can drive the minibus?

Driving licence held before 1 January 1997

If you had entitlement to drive cars prior to 1 January 1997 you can drive a minibus provided you are 21 or over and the minibus has a maximum of 17 seats including the driver's seat and is not being used for hire or reward.

To drive a minibus which has nine or more passenger seats for hire or reward you will normally need passenger carrying vehicle entitlement (PCV). To obtain this you must meet higher medical standards and take a further driving test. However, if you drive a minibus for an organisation under the minibus or community bus permit scheme you will not need to have the higher PCV entitlements.

Driving minibuses on a car driving licence

Holders of a full category B (car) driving licence may drive a minibus with up to 16 passenger seats provided the following conditions are met: 

  1. the vehicle is used for social purposes by a non-commercial body but not for hire or reward
  2. the driver is aged 21
  3. the driver has held a car (category B) licence for at least 2 years
  4. the driver is providing the service on a voluntary basis
  5. the minibus maximum weight is not more than 3.5 tonnes or 4.25 tonnes including any specialist equipment for the carriage of disabled passengers
  6. if the driver is aged 70 or over, is able to meet the health standards for driving a D1 vehicle

When driving a minibus under these conditions you may not receive any payment or consideration for doing so other than out of pocket expenses or tow any size trailer; you may only drive minibuses in this country. Drivers aged 70 or over will need to make a special application, which involves meeting higher medical standards.

Other requirements

To drive our minibus there are certain other requirements. Except in exceptional circumstances 

  1. the driver must have a clean driving licence
  2. the driver must have three years both accident and claim free

Any details of exceptional circumstances must be explained to the Music Manager before registering as an Authorised Driver.

To register as an Authorised Driver: 

  1. complete an Authorised Driver Registration Form - to be completed anually
  2. submit the form, along with both parts of your driving licence to the Music Manager (a copy of your licence will be kept on file)

In most cases, you will be asked to go for a short driving assessment before being allowed to take out the bus either on your own or for society use.

Minibus permit

Some voluntary operators of minibuses are able to carry fare-paying passengers under certain restricted conditions without the need of having a passenger carrying vehicle (PCV) licence. Minibus permits allow certain organisations to make a charge without having to comply with the full passenger carrying vehicle entitlement (PCV) operator licensing requirements and without the need for their drivers to have PCV entitlement.

  • The service provided must be for their own members or for groups of people whom the organisation serves.
  • The service must not be provided to members of the general public and the charges made must be on a non-profit basis.


We have one of these permits in our minibus. This enables the Music Office to make a charge to societies for their use of the minibus and for societies to make a charge to their passengers to cover their fuel and hire expenses without the drivers having full PCV licences. All charges made to societies or by societies must be made on a non-profit basis. Charges by Music Office to other university departments are internal and may therefore, make a profit.

Using the minibus

 Collecting the minibus

  1. By previous arrangement, collect the keys and Vehicle Check Form from the Music Office. Keys will only be signed out to authorised drivers.
  2. The driver must read the rental agreement (on the rear of the sheet) and complete the first section of the Vehicle Check Sheet before you start your journey. If you notice anything not listed on the form, speak to the Music Office straight away.
  3. Before starting to drive, please write the audometer reading, and the time and date in the Driver Log Book, which is located in the central document section of the dashboard. All changes of driver must be written in the log book so that it is possible to tell who was driving the vehicle at any particular time and date.

Returning the minibus

  1. Complete the Driver Log Book entry.
  2. Complete the Vehicle Check Sheet.
  3. Return the Keys and Vehicle Check Sheet to the Music Office. A representative of the department will come and inspect the vehicle and countersign the Vehicle Check Sheet.

Accident/breakdown

In case of accident there is a helpful checklist of advice located in the central document section of the dashboard, which you should follow if you are involved in an accident of any kind. 

In the case of breakdown we have RAC membership for the minibus which will also get the driver and 8 of the passengers home from wherever you are in the UK. There is a RAC contact card attached to the windscreen inside the vehicle.

Accidents do happen, so please don't be afraid to come and tell us if something happens.

Links

University of Exeter links

External links