History

IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN TO ME!

Well isn’t that what we all think or want to believe?

The founder of The ADI Federation Barbara Trafford certainly never felt that she would ever encounter a problem with her job. She had a highly successful driving school, good pass rate, and excellent reputation, got on well with all the ADIs in her area and the examiners – what could possibly go wrong?

Well, Barbara did have a problem. She then encountered an examiner who treated her and her pupils badly. She wasn’t alone, many complaints were sent in to the DSA and locally ADIs were unhappy. However, Barbara was alone when she decided that she was not prepared to have her pupils treated unfairly or rudely and stood up to the DSA.

During the next 3-years, Barbara had suffered at the hands of not just the DSA but of the local ADIs who she had previously seen as friends and colleagues. She saw her pass rate plummet; her driving school suffer and all but disappear. ADIs and examiners shunned her, but she continued with her complaint in the belief she was right to do so. Many other ADIs would not have withstood this pressure.

At the end of those 3-years, the Parliamentary Ombudsman found in Barbara’s favour and she was completely vindicated. Through this Ombudsman’s Report, several changes took place for the benefit of this industry, such as: -

The introduction of a ‘Structured complaints procedure’ within the DSA.

This included procedures to cover complaints against examiners and a disciplinary board

The Customer Service Unit in all DSA Regional Offices

The ICA ‘Independent Complaints Advisor’ (now known as Independent Complaints Assessor)

Also all DSA printed material needed to be re-printed to include the new Complaints Procedures.

From this extraordinary experience, Barbara Trafford made a further brave decision to work with and alongside the DSA she had just fought for 3-years, to ensure that all ADIs be given the opportunity of having a unique organisation set up to help and assist working ADIs with whatever problems or concerns they encountered. This service is unique in that it serves the individual ADI in a way that cannot be matched. The ADI Federation will make a supreme effort to help, even when that means travelling around the UK to be with members when they need ‘hands-on’ assistance.

From the very beginnings, The ADI Federation has far exceeded all of Barbara’s aspirations and expectations, and continues to grow from strength to strength.

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