Operators could pay for the VI y Nicky Clarke •
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The Gove ent could soon be fundin the Vehicle Inspectorate irectly from the .£21m a year that hauliers pay as Operator's icence fees. Such a move wou d give the VI a 25% increase n funding.
Last week e Department of Transport co firmed it is considering "ri gfencing" the money it rece yes as 0-licence fees and chan ii elling it back to enforcement o the 0-licensing system and GV regs—in a process called ypothecation.
This is one of the options being considered in a Government re iew of VI funding: the final ecision will be included in the I ransport White Paper which is due to be published in May.
The VI recei ed £15.5m for roadworthine s and traffic enforcement d ng 1997/98: the difference of n arly £6m currently goes mt. Treasury cof fers and is distributed to other Government departments.
Hypothecating the 0-licence fee would please the Road Haulage and Freight Transport Associations, which have been campaigning for the move.
It also has the support of Senior Traffic Commissioner Mike Betts: "I'd like to see enforcement funded by the industry, with industry having a say as to how the money is used," he says. "Traffic Commissioners have been concerned for several years that there's a very low number of enforcement staff, and we wish to see more of them."
The Vehicle Inspectorate employs one vehicle examiner on 0-licence and enforcement work for every 8,919 HGVs in the country. Each year they check one in four vehicles at the roadside, where most offences resulting in disciplinary action are found.