Minibus checks

Keep your minibus on the Assets page as a hire item, and its checks live here alongside the hall’s. In Add from the standard list, choose the minibus under For and you’re offered the vehicle checks instead of the building’s:

• the driver’s walkaround check, recording defects or none;
• a monthly check of tyres, tread, lights, fluids, seats, belts and doors;
• a safety inspection by a qualified mechanic;
• the MOT, service, vehicle tax and insurance;
• the fire extinguisher and first aid kit;
• the not-for-profit Section 19 permit;
• a wheelchair lift or ramp’s six-monthly examination, if it has one;
• each driver’s licence check and MiDAS assessment.

A Scout Group runs its minibus under a not-for-profit Section 19 permit, so they’re drawn mainly from the government’s guidance for permit holders, with DVSA’s walkaround guidance, the MOT rules and Scout Groups’ own monthly checklists. A minibus needs its first MOT at one year old, not three. The walkaround is for the driver before every journey; the weekly reminder is only the floor for a minibus standing unused.

The safety inspection. A permit holder must have its minibus inspected regularly, and DVSA recommends at least every 10 weeks. It starts at two months here so it’s never late; shorten it for an older vehicle, and inspect a rarely used minibus before it goes out. If a garage does it, have a written agreement with them.

Everything else works as it does for the hall: log each check as you do it, get the daily reminder when it’s due, and find it in the audit pack and the check log download. The guidance says to keep drivers’ defect reports and records of repairs for at least 15 months, and the log keeps them for as long as the check exists.