Following the suspension of downgrades at the end of March in response to the coronavirus pandemic, FORS has confirmed that Bronze, Silver and Gold downgrades will go ahead on 1 December for FORS organisations that have not renewed their expired accreditation prior to the deadline of 30 November. An exception will be made under the following circumstances:

• Where a Bronze audit booking has been made
• Where the Bronze audit process has begun ie the audit has taken place, but the re-approval or accreditation process has not been completed
• Where a Silver/Gold re-approval application has been received (with a valid Bronze)

Daily downgrades will also resume from that date.

Your supply chain may be affected by these downgrades – you can check the status of FORS organisations via Who’s on Board and FORS Champions can sign up to have access to the FORS Overseer Dashboard. To sign up for free as a FORS Champion, click here.

Temporary relaxation to meet work-related road risk Silver requirement S5

The temporary relaxation for meeting the work-related road risk (WRRR) professional development requirement S5 for FORS members wishing to progress to Silver or renewing their Silver accreditation has been further extended until 2022. FORS introduced the original relaxation in May 2020 in order to support its members during the coronavirus pandemic.

This means that FORS members will be able to pass the WRRR training requirement by undertaking the theory part only of Safe Urban Driving (SUD) or Van Smart (VS), with the practical on-cycle element undertaken by the time of their yearly Silver re-approval audit in 2022.

However, FORS has encouraged its members to undertake the practical element in 2021 providing government guidance and company policies can be met, with new drivers that have never completed the on-cycle element encouraged to undertake the on-cycle training as soon as possible.

FORS is a voluntary accreditation scheme for any company operating commercial vehicles anywhere in the UK and overseas. For more information on FORS, including how to join, click here.