ACCOLADE FOR JOHN PARKER AGM Delivered by Angela Sixsmith, Chairman, British Driving Society

Transcription

1 ACCOLADE FOR JOHN PARKER AGM 2015 Delivered by Angela Sixsmith, Chairman, British Driving Society As we have just heard, John Parker retired as President of the British Driving Society in July 2015, for the personal reasons set out in his statement. We are all very sorry that John is not present to personally receive our heartfelt thanks for his many years of service to the BDS, but we will pass on the following tribute on behalf of the Membership. John was first asked to stand for Council in 1997 by Caroline Dale-Leach and Linda Tate, under the all-too-brief Chairmanship of David Clarke. At that time, the winds of change were already starting to blow through the horse world. During the 1990s, the attention of Government, Parliament and even the European Union became increasingly focused upon the Horse, changing forever the way equestrian organisations - including the BDS - were able to operate. Tragically, not long after John was elected to BDS Council, David Clarke was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and his rapid deterioration resulted in him handing over many responsibilities to John, culminating in Council unanimously and the Membership voting for him to take over as Chairman when David sadly died the day before the BDS AGM. Thus, John Parker found himself thrown in at the deep end, dealing with Ministers and senior Civil Servants from MAFF (now DEFRA) on developing Horse Passport and Welfare of Equines in Transport legislation; with the Department for Transport and Local Authority Licensing Officers to enable the horse drawn commercial sector to continue to expand; fighting to enable horse drivers to continue to use the Public Rights of Way network; and engaging with animal rights activists who are of the opinion that it is cruel and unnatural to make horses pull vehicles. Health and Safety legislation was the first issue to seriously affect the horse-world, with the increasingly stringent application of the Animals Act 1971, coupled with a new appetite for litigation due to the rise of

2 no-win-no-fee law firms, resulting in a number of Court cases, which increased insurance premiums for both riding and driving and put many riding schools out of business. Following a spate of serious accidents during the 1990s, horse driving was also facing the imminent prospect of highly restrictive legislation, which would have virtually forced recreational drivers off the public highway and seriously curtailed the developing commercial harness horse sector. Even though these accidents did not involve BDS Members, the Department for Transport made it quite clear that urgent measures must be taken to improve the safety of the general public, and they considered that the BDS was to be the main font of knowledge for horse driving skills. John was, therefore, asked to Chair the Harness Horse Training Board, which included British Horse Driving Trials ( now BritishCarriagedriving), International League for the Protection of Horses ( now World Horse Welfare), the British Horse Society (BHS), and the Department for Transport. The BDS provided the Secretariat, and it was not long before John was bringing the benefits of his expertise in all aspects of harness horse driving to the table. The result was the Code of Practice for all Harness Horse Drivers on the Public Highway. This at the insistence of the Department for Transport, included such requirements as driving English Coaching Style on the public highway, as they were and remain of the opinion that this is the only safe and effective method of making correct and clear hand signals to other road users. Further requirements were added for drivers of commercial horse drawn vehicles, including an annual veterinary, harness and vehicle check plus the formal Competence Qualification which we generally call The Code of Practice Certificate - in horse driving skills and knowledge. The Department for Transport made it clear that they expected the Harness Horse Driving Competence Qualification to be extended to ALL people who drive on the public highway as soon as possible, and that if we were unable to do so, it would be enshrined in law. This eventually

3 became the basis for the current BDS Road Driving Safety Certificate for recreational drivers. Some of you will be aware that there have been several attempts to make the Code of Practice Certificate law for all harness horse drivers on the public highway. This culminated in a Bill in the House of Lords in 2003 to enshrine Code of Practice Certificate in Law, and we can only be grateful to John for being instrumental in persuading them that the BDS Road Driving Safety Test, which was in development at the time, was sufficiently robust to make such legislation unnecessary. John was single-handedly responsible for ensuring the BDS became registered with DEFRA as a Horse Passport Issuing Organisation. Sales of BDS horse passports has brought some 300,000 gross income into the Society, and continues to provide us with a steady, welcome source of outside income. His work on various DEFRA consultation groups enabled us to become one of only 5 UK organisations permitted to provide examination for the Welfare of Animals/Equines in Transport Certificate, which has generated around 370,000 of gross income, and which also continues to generate outside income. John deals regularly with the Department of Transport as our representative on all matters concerning horse drawn vehicles on the public highway, with the Department of Education and Ofqual as the BDS Responsible Officer, and with DEFRA as our Horse Passport Registrar. Council are delighted to confirm that he has agreed to continue with these highly complex roles, which each carry a considerable burden of legal and administrative responsibility. During the consultation period for the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, John fought long and hard to preserve the rights of all harness horse drivers to continue to use the Public Rights of Way network. Prior to his intervention, various off-road car and motorbike groups were demanding that they should continue to be able to use any right of way which was open to us, as they were also wheeled vehicles. This had met with extreme resistance from pedestrian groups and landowners,

4 with the result that, by 1999, we were about to lose all our rights to drive on any public right of way. John s powerful argument to the pivotal meeting, chaired by the Secretary of State, was that previous legislation had wedded us to the motor car for the past 70 years, and that harness horse drivers felt it was time we were granted a divorce! The result was Restricted Byways, created by Parliament specifically for ourselves, horse riders, pedestrians and cyclists, but excluding mechanically-propelled vehicles. I know John would, at this point, want to acknowledge the invaluable efforts of Margaret Pawson as BDS Rights of Way Officer. In addition to being heavily involved in all aspects of the day-to-day administrative work of the Society, John also somehow found time during his Chairmanship and Presidency to Chair the BDS Show Committee and the BDS Smith s Law Show, be Show Director of the BDS Towerlands Show, Chair the BDS Safety Panel, provide information and reports for Council, and give advice to Members over the phone and in person at events. John s roles as Chairman and President have not just been about bringing in additional income to the BDS, chairing committees and fighting to preserve our rights enjoy our driving. John has told me how deeply shocked he was to find, when first engaging with Ministers, Government Departments, Local Authorities and even various other equine organisations, that a great many viewed Driving as something people do because they have poor riding skills, or when they are too old and decrepit to ride anymore; that there are no special skills needed to drive a horse and cart ; that people don t need any lessons if you they already ride, it is just a case of flapping the reins on the horse s back, cracking the whip and shouting very loudly. It was made abundantly clear to him that most viewed the idea of there being any actual qualifications for horse driving was ridiculous and on a par with qualifying people to wash floors; that it was laughable to think that Driving could have any input into the Equine National Occupational Standards Suite or that we would ever be allowed to develop nationally-accredited qualifications to drive a horse and cart.

5 By far the the most depressing comments were from those who believed most driving horses to be poor quality animals or ones which were too lazy or useless to be ridden; that they were the rubbish end of the UK national herd ; and that horse drivers were always causing accidents and giving the rest of the horse-world a bad name. John has worked tirelessly throughout the years to change the perceptions of driving as unskilled, dangerous, and a bit of an embarrassment, into what is now seen as a respected skill, with accredited qualifications to match the rest of the horse-world. As a result, we now not only have over 15 pages describing driving skills in the National Occupational Standards, but also a whole chapter in Lantra s Equine Skills Workbook and nationally-accredited qualifications for both harness horse Grooms and Drivers. So much for horse drivers being low-skilled and harness horses a joke! He has fought the BDS corner with VOSA on horsebox driver s hours regulations, and blocked the BEF s proposal to Government that there be a 50 per year tax imposed on all horses, with the aim of raising 45 million to promote equestrian sport in the UK. It was made clear that Driving would get precisely nothing out of this, unless there was a bit of money left over after a few years, in which case a small amount might be spared. John s argument that 50 represented the average winter hay bill for a Shetland pony at that time, and that most horse owners would wonder why they were sacrificing their hard-earned cash to fund showjumpers, dressage riders and eventers. He described a potential newspaper article, picturing a little pony standing between a pile of hay and a top performance horse, with the caption Please don t leave me to starve so just my big friend can win another rosette! To their credit, many of our top equestrians supported John, and the Government suggested the BEF should find other ways of funding equestrian sport. I personally regret that we missed the opportunity thank him in person at last year s AGM for stepping in to resume the Chairmanship following the unexpected resignation of our previous Chairman and his closelysupporting team of Vice Chairman and Treasurer last year ( again, this

6 was for personal reasons, which they declined to allow Council to disclose). At this time last year, we had all expected that John would be here today to receive our accolade and thanks. The BDS has virtually taken over his life, and that of his extended family, for the past 20 years. So on behalf of Council and the Membership I say hats off to John Parker for all his years of hard work, loyalty and selfless dedication to the British Driving Society. May I ask you to be upstanding and join us in applauding John Parker for his valiant years of unstinting service to us all. END