FTA/RHA members want privately employed ATF testers
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By Laura Hailstone
MEMBERS OF THE Freight Transport Association (FTA) and the Road Haulage Association (RHA) want to see privately employed testers at authorised testing facilities (ATFs) rather than have Vosacontracted examiners perform the tests.
Many considered ATFs to be the first step towards the annual test becoming fully privatised, but it appears the transition of Vosa examiners to the private sector is not on the government's agenda.
James Firth, FTA head of road freight and enforcement policy, said a lot of its members believe the flexibilities that ATFs could bring can't be realised until the providers have control over all aspects of testing.
RHA chief executive Geoff Dunning said the vision of a fully privatised regime is one that's "flexible, efficient, good value, competitive, and high quality". "There's no reason for the standard of tests to go down; the one thing we'd want built into any privatised system is a high-quality
monitoring regime for the people who are authorised to do the testing," he said. However, Alastair Peoples, chief executive of Vosa and the Driving Standards Agency, said privatisation was a matter for the Department for Transport, not Vosa. "I am proud of the impartial work Vosa inspectors
continue to provide at testing sites across the country. Recent research shows that 90% of our customers are satisfied with the testing process, and the Transport Select Committee also supports the model."
• CM will examine privatisation in depth in its 14 November issue.