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Give us a say on :est controls RHA

13th June 1981, Page 5
13th June 1981
Page 5
Page 5, 13th June 1981 — Give us a say on :est controls RHA
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IE ROAD Haulage Association wants "a real part" in a monitoring d supervising scheme to control heavy goods vehicle test stains, if they are sold to the private sector.

Giving evidence to the House Commons transport commite, which is investigating the overnment's plans to sell the stations, RHA director-genal George Newman repeated

e Association's view that the .esent system should be left ;ubstantially" alone as it has orked well since 1968.

But he said that the RHA has ready had discussions with the apartment of Transport about e possibilities of a monitoring id supervising scheme, and is told civil servants that it ants to have a part in running ich a system.

Mr Newman told the MPs that company could be established ith several interested parties, ,including the RHA and the Freight Transport Association. The monitoring and supervisory body would have "inspectors to inspect inspectors", he added, He added that, if the system has to be sold to the private sector, it ought to be sold in its entirety to one responsible consortium, Giving evidence on Tuesday this week, FTA director-general Hugh Featherstone said his Association is still opposed to the Government's plans, but said that discussions with the DTp are continuing, and it is too early to say what the outcome will be.

He said the FTA is co-operating with the Government to see whether a way can be found to reconcile the Government's objective to dispose of the testing network to the private sector, and the FTA's aims to safeguard the standard of testing, the integrity of the network, and control over the level of fees.

Mr Featherstone was followed by the Institution of Professional Civil Servants, who provide test station managers and supervisors. The Institute described the ‘(Government's proposals as _Yalarming".

Its assistant general secretary, W. H. Brett, warned that if testing is placed in private hands, fees will have to be increased substantially, or the Government will have to authorise the closure of some stations. And he added that the Civil Service's rigorous standards which are applied against any form of corruption were "rather higher" than those which operated in all parts of the private sector.

Meanwhile, Institute of Transport Administration director Colin Raynor has written to Trans; port Secretary Norman Fowler, urging that the privately run vehicle testing system in West Germany be looked at closely,