Guidance

Applicant information and guidance for the Secretary of State for Transport's Honorary Medical Advisory Panel Members

Guidance for applicants for roles on the Secretary of State for Transport's Honorary Medical Advisory Panels.

• From: Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency
• Published: 14 June 2023
• Last updated: 23 July 2024 — See all updates

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

1. The role and responsibilities of members of the Honorary Medical Advisory Panels

The role of the medical panels is to help maintain and improve road safety by providing the Secretary of State for Transport (SoS), in practice the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), with medical expert advice about the relevant medical condition and its impact on driving.

Panel Chair and Expert Members play an integral part in this by providing advice about medical standards for fitness to drive that accurately reflects the current understanding of a medical condition and its effect on the ability to drive.

Lay Members play an important role on panel, providing a balanced and objective opinion that is independent of the medical expertise, while remaining independent and not representing the views of any particular organisation.

Qualities required for the roles of members

To be considered, you must be able to demonstrate that you have the qualities, skills and experience to meet all the essential criteria for appointment.

Skills, knowledge and experience for the role of Expert Members and Panel Chair

Expertise:

• able to explain area of specialism or interest clearly and apply it where relevant, sharing this knowledge in a way that invites further questions and be able to check all parties’ understanding (essential)

Knowledge and experience:

• expert in field of specialism (essential)
• experience of carrying out specialist research and presenting findings through written and oral communications (essential)
• experience of advisory panel work (desirable)
• experience of attending tribunals or court cases (desirable)

Qualifications:

• General Medical Council (GMC) or NMC registered and licenced to practice (essential)
• currently in clinical practice (essential)
• membership or fellowship of a relevant Royal College or similar organisation (for example, professional or learned societies such as the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM), British Cardiovascular Society (BCS), Royal College of Nursing and Midwifery) (essential)
• full driving licence (desirable)

Working with others:

• open and honest with excellent listening skills (essential)
• prepare to challenge and be able to argue a position, and also thereafter to be challenged and be open to such a challenge (essential)
• driven, with stamina and commitment and have the ability to reach decisions as part of a team (essential)

Analysis:

• able to read and interpret large quantities of complex information from different sources and be conscious of details but also be able to select relevant material and see links between items (essential)

Judgement and decision making:

• use logical reasoning and a structured approach (essential)
• be an independent thinker and be prepared to state and support their own decision while able to follow oral argument (essential)
• be able to balance evidence, keep to the facts and apply objectivity (essential)

Skills, knowledge and experience for the role of Lay Members

Knowledge and experience

• be able to offer knowledge relevant to the work of the panel, through experience or understanding of transport, road safety or disability-related issues (essential)
• have experience as a carer or sufferer of a condition relevant to a panel, or of serving in the voluntary sector or other organisation, working in disability or driving issues (essential)
• not be, nor ever have been, a registered medical practitioner or optician (essential)

Skills and ability

• able to demonstrate an ability to participate on boards or committees (essential)
• demonstrate an ability to be able to contribute to the work of the panel (i.e. the ability to analyse complex problems and to subject evidence to questioning from a wide range of viewpoints, while remaining objective and focused on road safety in general rather than the likely effect on any one individual) (essential)
• able to maintain confidentiality (essential)
• skilled and confident communicator to ask questions and challenge, constructively, the views and assumptions of panel members (essential)

Other

• not have any relevant business interests, positions of authority or other connections with commercial, public or voluntary bodies which might give rise to a conflict of interest (essential)

Remuneration

Expenses will be paid in line with Civil Service policy. You may claim travel and subsistence expenses, which are properly and necessarily incurred in carrying out your role and responsibilities as a panel member, in line with travel and subsistence policy and rates.

Time commitment

For Expert Members and Lay Members, a minimum of 4 days work per year (2 days attributed to panel meetings and up to 2 days to review papers in preparation for the meetings).

For Panel Chairs, the expectation is a minimum of 6 days of work per year (3 days for panel related meetings and 3 days for meeting preparation).

Members may also be required to visit the Swansea site or attend a Teams induction session to familiarise themselves with DVLA.

Applicants are encouraged to discuss the time requirements of this role with their employer before submitting their application, to ensure they will be able to fulfil the time requirements.

Location

Meetings will usually take place twice a year in a hybrid format in London and over Microsoft Teams. We will advise you of the exact arrangements each time we organise a meeting.

Tenure of office

The Secretary of State determines the length of the appointment, which can be initially up to 5 years for Expert Members and Panel Chairs, with the possibility to extend to 10 years in future. Appointments can occasionally be extended beyond 10 years, but only in exceptional circumstances and with agreement from all relevant parties, most pertinently the appointing minister. Lay Members can only serve for a maximum period of 5 years.

2. How to apply

Making an application

To make an application (Panel Chairs and Expert Members) please email your CV, a supporting letter and completed DVLA diversity monitoring form to medicalpanelapplications@dvla.gov.uk.

Lay Members – please email your completed application form to medicalpanelapplications@dvla.gov.uk.

Your application must be received by 11:59pm on the date specified on the vacancy advertisement. This time and date is non-negotiable – late entries will not be considered due to logistical reasons.

In making an application please note the following.

Interview dates

Based on previous schemes of this nature, levels of interest are always high and the logistical effort involved in scheduling interview times to suit both the candidate and those on the interviewing panel is significant. For this reason, we are unable to accommodate requests for interviews outside the dates specified on the vacancy advertisement. Candidates are advised not to apply should they have availability issues during the specified interview dates.

Supporting letter and CV (Panel Chairs and Experts Members)

The supporting letter is your opportunity to demonstrate how you meet the criteria set out in the person specification. It will benefit the assessment panel if you can clearly evidence your area of specialism, along with a clear summary of the essential skills, knowledge and experience outlined. You also need to:

• write all acronyms in full first
• ensure your full name and the panel to which you are applying are clearly noted at the top of your letter
• limit your letter to 2 pages, and type or write clearly in black ink on a white background

Declaration of interests

If you have any business or personal interests that might be relevant to the work of the panel and which could lead to a real or perceived conflict of interest were you to be appointed, please provide details in your application or supporting letter.

If appointed, you will also be required to declare these interests on appointment and these interests will be published on GOV.UK.

For Panel Chair and Expert Member applications, please ensure your CV includes:

• your full name, title, home address, personal contact telephone numbers (land line and mobile) and personal email address
• similar contact details for a referee who will support your application - the referee should be the person to whom you are (or were) accountable in your current and most recent appointment or position of employment - and you need to indicate the relationship of the referee to you
• full details of your current or most recent post and the dates you occupied this role, plus any past or present ministerial appointments

Disability Confident Scheme

The Department for Transport operates a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for disabled people. The Equality Act 2010 defines a person as disabled if they have a physical or mental impairment and the impairment has a substantial and long term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day to day activities. Under the DCS, a disabled candidate will be selected for interview if they meet the essential criteria for the post.

If you are submitting an application as a DCS candidate, please ensure that you inform the vacancy holder when you submit your application.

All applications will be acknowledged by email.

Further information

For further information regarding the role of the Panel Chair and Expert Member, email: nick.jenkins@dvla.gov.uk

For further information regarding the role of each panel and the role of Lay Member, email: leighandrew.bromfield@dvla.gov.uk

3. The selection process

DVLA appointments team will deal with your application as quickly as possible and will advise you of updates at each stage.

After the closing date for applications the process is as follows:

1. The assessment panel will assess candidates’ applications  to determine who it believes best meets the criteria for the role, and who will be invited to interview. The assessment panel will rely only on the information you provide in your application to assess whether you have the skills and experience required.
2. The assessment panel will select the strongest applicants for interview who have demonstrated that they best meet the criteria set out in the person specification.
3. After shortlisting is completed, the appointments team will email to let you know whether or not you have been invited to interview.
4. If you are invited to interview, and  the date and time is not suitable to you then every effort will be made to offer you an alternative date and time, but unfortunately this cannot be guaranteed.
5. Candidates who the panel believe are appointable will be recommended to the minister who will make the final decision. Candidates should therefore be prepared for a time gap between their interview and a final appointment decision being made. Candidates who have been interviewed will be kept informed of progress.
6. If you are successful, you will receive a letter from the minister appointing you as Honorary Panel Member, which will confirm the terms on which the appointment is offered.
7. If you are unsuccessful at interview, you will be notified by the appointments team and we will provide feedback on request. We may also approach you about remaining on a merit list or talent pool for future opportunities. We appreciate it takes a lot of time and effort to apply for roles and that feedback is a valuable part of the process.

Queries about your application

For queries about the status of your application, or any problems submitting it, please contact medicalpanelapplications@dvla.gov.uk

Diversity and equality of opportunity

The Department for Transport and DVLA values and promotes diversity and encourages applications from all sections of the community.

We would appreciate your co-operation in completing the DVLA diversity monitoring form to help us better understand how we, as an employer, ensure equality of opportunity for all.

Retention of data

The personal data which you provide, and which we may request in connection with your application will not be retained beyond 24 months should your application be unsuccessful. If you are appointed to the post applied for, your personal data will only be used for the purposes of Human Resources.

Published 14 June 2023
Last updated 23 July 2024 + show all updates

1. 23 July 2024

   Updated panel member information

2. 14 June 2023

   First published.