No saving
Page 3
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
THERE WILL be no real saving to the Government if heavy goods vehicle test stations are sold to private enterprise, Department of Transport Permanent Under Secretary Sir Peter Baldwin confirmed last week.
Giving evidence to the House of Commons transport committee, which is studying the transport implications of the Public Expenditure White Paper, Sir Peter told the committee that the testing service's fees balance its costs at present, and will continue to do so after privatisation.
But he insisted that the DTp's plans do not just involve pushing people into the private sector in order to get its manpower figures down. It was a "very good question" whether hgv testing should be any different from car testing, which always has been carried out by the private sector, and there was probably no reason why a private testing regime would not work.
Sir Peter confirmed that the Government is interested in schemes for privately financed trunk roads in Britain, and told the committee that investigation of the concept was now at an advanced stage.
ROADLINE UK drivers will be advised to accept an increased wage offer which was made at a meeting between trades union and company officials this week.
The increased offer is understood to give some drivers a rise of 7.5 per cent.