Transport minister fails to guarantee VOSA's future
4/8/2010 |
VOSA's future has been thrown into doubt after the Parliamentary Under Secretary State for Transport failed to assure an MP that the government is not looking at axing the enforcement agency.
The spectre of privatisation has also been raised, prompting concern at the Freight Transport Association (FTA) and among the trade unions, who say outsourcing enforcement activities will be "too bitter a pill" for the country to swallow.
Bristol East Labour MP Kerry McCarthy asked the Transport Secretary what plans have been made for VOSA's future and whether discussions will take place with the unions first.
In response Mike Penning, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, says it has not commissioned any consultancy advice prior to October's Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), adding: "As is normal practice, discussions will be held with the relevant trade unions before any decisions are taken on the future of VOSA."
McCarthy, who facilitated a meeting in 2007 between VOSA staff union PCS and the then Transport Select Committee chair Gwyneth Dunwoody when privatisation was first mooted, says she'd be "very surprised" if VOSA's operations are not outsourced: "This new government is axing and privatising virtually everything, so I wanted to get assurances from them that VOSA wasn't in their sights. The response they've given me suggests that it is. They're ideologically fixated on dismantling the public sector, and seem in rather a hurry to do so."
Kevin Warden, secretary at trade union VOSA TUS, says VOSA managers have been busy calculating the damage to the agency if the £20m budget it receives direct from the Department for Transport (DfT) is cut by up to four million pounds.
"There's pressure about what money there will be for enforcement and how it will be spent," he adds. "I share Kerry's concerns; they are moving everything they can from the public to the private sector. I genuinely think to privatise enforcement is too bitter a pill and too difficult a pill to swallow, but it's early days. Everyone is fearful of the CSR in October and what that will bring."
FTA policy director James Hookham says he is worried about any reduction in vehicle testing and roadside checks and adds: "Only public servants with warrant cards and VOSA staff in uniform can stop trucks and issue PG9s. They should not contemplate any third party doing that service. It just wouldn't work; you need public servants doing that, to tick the legal and credibility boxes."
A VOSA spokesman says 10% of its funding comes from the DfT. He adds: "All government departments and agencies are looking at how they can reduce their costs as part of the spending review in the Autumn and VOSA is no exception to this."
Source: Roadtransport.com
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