Three UK ports continue to prevent VOSA inspections
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christopherwaltonfarbi.co.uk VOSA HAS ADMITTED it still remains barred from performing vehicle inspections at three ports in the UK, despite more than a year of protracted negotiations to gain access.
The ports of Stranraer and Cairnryan in Scotland, which run services into Northern Ireland, as well as Twelve Quays on the Wirral, which runs into Belfast and Dublin, were named by VOSA chief executive Alastair Peoples as ports that currently barred the government agency from performing vehicle inspections on site.
Peoples told the Committee of Public Accounts last month that there were commercial concerns with those ports because they felt they were losing business to rival operators as a result of the inspections, and such inflexibility was rippling out to other ports. He insists: "fWe need to show] we are working out of every port and not giving a perceived commercial advantage to one port by the fact we are not working from there."
This revelation comes at a time when VOSA is trying to negotiate partnerships with the British Ports Association (BPA) to develop working agreements for access to ports across the country in order to inspect domestic and foreign vehicles. VOSA has been barred from Twelve Quays Port for more than a year.
David Whitehead, director of the BPA, says he is trying to get a memorandum of understanding with VOSA about the principles of inspections, hut he does not think legislation will be pushed through to force the ports to open their doors.
None of the ports were available to clarify Peoples' statement as CM went to press.
• The Port of Felixstowe has warned operators that union Unite has arranged a meeting for 7pm today (4 February), which will see its 'In' and 'Out' gates dose from 6.45pro. All drivers who wish to be processed before then should arrive before opm. Unite was unavailable to comment on the reasons behind the meeting.