Digital course terms and conditions

1. The offer of an educational course is solely at the discretion of the Police. You have no legal right to a course as an alternative to prosecution and the offer can be withdrawn by the Police at any time.
2. Your course must be completed within 5 months of your offence date or as stated in the letter. If you are unable to complete a course in this time, the offer of the course will be withdrawn.
3. You must notify Staffordshire County Council at the time of making your booking of any special needs that you wish to be taken into consideration for the provision of your course, for example if you have difficulty understanding English.Failure to provide this information at the time of booking may mean that your needs cannot be met. Staffordshire County Council will aim to accommodate 'reasonable and practical' requests. If you are bringing your own interpreter to the course, you must notify us in advance of their name (they must be at least 16 years and be able to provide photographic ID).
4. If you have any hidden disabilities these need to be included in the Special requirements section when making the booking or email drivingcourses@staffordshire.gov.uk to inform us. These will be dealt with a maximum of confidentiality and won't be disclosed with anyone outside the course provision.
5. It is your responsibility to make any arrangements and meet any expenses associated with attending this course including travel, childcare (no children of any age will be permitted to be present in the room where you are doing the course) and any loss of earnings or leave entitlement.
   a. It is a requirement to make sure your device can support ZOOM meetings. Please ensure that you have tested your equipment and network, to be confident in its use prior to attending the Digital Classroom course. You should download the Zoom app in advance of the course, and it is recommended to start a test meeting with a family member/friend to check that your devices are working and that you are familiar with the controls. It is your responsibility to make sure you have enough internet capacity to enable your devices to successfully complete the course. Your internet speeds will have to exceed the minimum requirements for group video calling specified on https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362023 -System-Requirements-for-PCMac-and Linux.
   b. The email address or mobile number provided at the time of booking, will be used to confirm your booking confirmation along with the log in details for the online courses and any updates as and when necessary. If you have not received confirmation within 2 days of booking your course, you must contact Staffordshire County Council to confirm your course allocation. It is your responsibility to make us aware immediately should any of your contact details change. We recommend regularly checking your emails including spam or junk folders for any updates.
   c. The booking confirmation emails along with the emails we send before the course date that include the course link and joining instructions will be sent from a "NO REPLY" email address therefore we recommend you provide a personal email address as works/business email addresses will sometimes block our emails. Also, please make sure you check you spam or junk folders.
   d. Log in details for any digital course will be sent via email and/or SMS within 24 hours of your course start time.
6. In certain circumstances it may be possible to offer you an alternative course date providing there is sufficient time within the deadline given by the Police. If you need to alter your course date you must contact Staffordshire County Council (0300 111 8012) within 14 days of receiving your course confirmation. After this time, any changes that are possible will attract an administrative charge, see below.You have 14 days from the date of the course booking day to change your mind and re-book your course free of charge, however if you book to attend a course within this time frame and need to re-arrange there may be an admin fee.
7. Changes with less than 21 days and up to 5 days before booked course date - free of charge for the first rescheduling.
8. Changes with less than 5 days' notice before booked course date - £25.
9. In the event that you are unable to attend or complete a course due to illness, a doctor's note (form MED3) will be required. Every effort will be made to offer an alternative course date, provided there is sufficient availability and time within the Police deadline. We reserve the right to make an administration charge which will be payable to Staffordshire County Council. If we are unable to offer you an alternative course date, a refund may be considered and may also be subject to an administration charge.
10. If you fail to attend your course, you will have 48 hours to call us on 0300 111 8012 to pay the admin fee and arrange anew date for your course if your deadline date allows it.
11. If you fail to attend your course and do not contact us in the 48 hours' time frame, your course will be cancelled, and you will receive a partial refund of £45 so you can arrange an alternative date with a different course provider.
12. If you are unable to complete or attend a course for any other reason than stated above, please call 0300 111 8012 to discuss options.
13. In the event that Staffordshire County Council are unable to deliver your course due to unforeseen circumstances beyond their control, every effort will be made to offer an alternative course date provided there is sufficient availability and time within the Police deadline. There will be no additional charge. Staffordshire County Council will not be held liable for any costs or loss of earnings or leave entitlement associated with rescheduling your course. If you would like to check if your course is still running, please call 0300 111 8012.
14. There is no course test to pass or fail. To complete the course, you must attend on time, make a positive contribution, and demonstrate a willingness to improve your driving skills. However, any abusive or inappropriate language, threatening or disruptive behaviour towards either our staff or other clients will result in you being removed from the course. If such situations should arise, your file will then be returned to the Police and marked as 'not completed'. You will lose your course fee and your offence will be dealt with by the court process. No further courses will be offered.
15. It is a condition that you present yourself in a fit state, having had proper rest and not under the influence of alcohol or drugs. You must be appropriately dressed for the consideration of other clients. Apart from the device being used to take part, other mobile phones, tablets, and similar electronic devices must be switched off during the course. Taking photographs of the screen or recording the course is prohibited and course content or other course participants are NOT to be posted onto Social Media platforms. You are also not allowed to use any blurred background or other images -it is simply advisable to have a blank wall behind or something similar.
16. The courses are designed to be informative and a positive learning experience, therefore no specific queries concerning your offence will be permitted during the course.
17. It is an offence for another person to attend in your place. If this occurs, it will classify as a noncompletion. Satisfactory course completion is dependent upon your attendance throughout the duration of the course, completion of all paperwork and making a positive contribution. If you leave the course before it finishes it will classify as a non-completion.
18. You will not be permitted to join the course if you fail to produce either: - An original Photo card Licence Or - Passport, Bus Pass with photo, NUS card, Citizen Card.
19. Failure to produce suitable ID will result in non-completion of the course. You may be offered an alternative course date, provided there is sufficient availability and time within the Police deadline.
20. Any use of abusive or foul language towards Staffordshire County Council staff and its contractors at any time will result in your file being returned to the Police and no further courses will be offered. In addition, anyone using or threatening to use violence will be prosecuted.
21. Your personal data will only be used for the purpose of the course and will not be made available to anybody outside the scheme. It will be kept for a period of 1 year unless you request removal.
22. If you fail to comply with any of these terms and conditions you will be certified as a non-completion. In such cases the offer of a course will be withdrawn, and your case will be returned to the Police to be dealt with by the court process.Staffordshire County Council Complaint Procedure can be found by visiting:Comments, compliments and complaints - Staffordshire County Council