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S tephen Tetlow probably slipped off many of his employees' Christmas
Page 23
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card lists this year. Given the job of modernising the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (Vosa), its chief executive has limited funds and a demanding agenda neither of which make him popular within the agency.
Commercial Motor's coverage of union fears over the feasibility studies into outsourcing Vosa activities prompted Tetlow to offer us an exclusive interview to explain his approach.
"I have great respect for our union representatives and they do a very good job," he says "They are often unsung heroes on a day-today level and we talk to each other on a regular basis. But some of the national representatives have a particular political agenda.These unions are doing a disservice to my staff fuellingconcent and not helping to sort the situation."
Some Vosa staff believe that Tetlow is not simply exploring outsourcing as an option, but was specifically recruited because of his previous experience of it,Consultancy Deloitte andTouche has been charged with assessing the possibilities for free market involvement, but the unions were told its terms of reference are "confidential", fuelling speculation that the central question was not 'if but 'how'. It has been described as an attempt to "privatise by stealth".
Services in review Tetlow robustly defends his examination of Vosa's services: -We're looking at the service we supply to the industry and making sure that our enforcement activity is right. I'm not going to go to any minister without putting a huge amount of effort into consulting everyone, from the tiny operators to the huge ones.
"We aren't conductingthe study ourselves;it's being carried out by independent consultants. The terms of reference were confidential because there was originally material in there which could have been relevant to any bid made in the future. But whether we outsource or not, this whole process is a very valuable exercise to go through."
Tetlow expects to take his case to ministers in late spring or early summer, but he admits: -We're a long way from that. We're assessing weaknesses, strategy and stakeholders' views before we put a business case together."
Faced with a miserlyTreasury and a Chancellor committed to cutting 6,000 civil service jobs-500 of which are likely to go from Vosa-Tetlow was never going to have an easy ride. He feels that communicating as openly as possible with his staff has created its own problems. "We could have kept this closed," he points out. "There would have been no uncertainty, no views, no worry. Instead we've kept our staff as fully informed as possible, although it's a challenge over such a huge geographical spread to keep people well informed."
Consultation is all very well, but many of his employees fear that Tetlow is a man wedded to free market concepts. This perception is based on his pedigree as a brigadier in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), where he was instrumental in outsourcing support functions, to mixed reviews.
"1 lave I had experience of outsourcing in my previous career? Yes. Some of it was very bad experience, with poor control, poor handling, poor focus on the outcome and a lack of buyin," he says. "But the successful experiences had innovation, good control and the right outcomes managed. As a result I'm under no illusions about the complexity of this or the level of advice that we will need."
It isn't just about resource,Tetlow stresses. He suggests there are five major points to consider: • Safety standards must be maintained • Better value must be achieved • Better customer service must be provided • Government objectives must be contributed to • The regional burden must be reduced.
"A huge chunk of Vosa has to stay within government to ensure standards and regulation,he adds.
Tetlow is very proud of Vosa's recent achievements, which he feels have been overshadowed by speculation: "The consistency of initial failure rates across test centres has improved by 30%. We are catching more [non-compliant] people with fewer checks. The number of voluntary tests we did rose from 30,0000 to 70,000 between 2003 and 2005we've already added another 3,000 to that. We've rolled out three major IT systems in one organisation in 12 months. We've been criticised for pulling staff out of designated premises (DP), yet we've actually increased DP tests by 17% this year.
"All these achievements are a great testament to the men and women of Vosa and they go largely unsung."
Challenges to be faced
Tetlow stresses that there are huge challenges still facing the organisation, well beyond the dilapidated condition of its 1960s test stations: "We need to revise the DP strategy and strike a balance between manning those and the test stations. We have no formalised agreements or contracts with DPs, just agreed standards and charges. If I didn't have civil service headcount targets hanging over me, I'd put more inspectors in there.
"We must also have a good look at where our customer base is," he adds. "Our test stations are often on ex-MoD land, but are they in the right place for our customers? We've put .£25m over 10 years into our estates strategy but the fundamental question is, are we putting it in the best place for industry?
"People don't mind travelling to the test station but they must have an advanced booking system and, although it varies with location, a 24-hour service."
There are also significant personnel challenges in the organisation: Tetlow says that he inherited a large number of people in temporary posts without proper training or support: "One third of our staff hadn't had an annual career appraisal in three years. We're working hard to put these things right."
It is hard to see how Vosa would ever realise the capital necessary for modernisation without liquidating some of its real estate and outsourcing at least some of its customerled functions. Whether Tetlow is the man to achieve this while retaining the confidence of his market remains to be seen. But if this course were the one chosen, he has no doubts: "I have very confidence that we could manage it." •