1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184 
Targeting the cowboys
Page 18
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
VOSA comes in for more than its fair share of flak from disgruntled operators, but according to the agency's annual report it's moving in the right direction.
Bridget Carter reports.
Better regulation of the road transport industry remains a key government target. according to VOSA chief executive Stephen Tetlow.
His comments come in the agency's annual report. which also highlights VOSA's improved financial performance over the past 12 months.
Tetlow cites increased targeting of enforcement activity as one way that VOSA is meeting the government's'be t ter regulation' agenda.
"The successful expansion of the power to stop, and the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition [ANPRI. mean that we are able to concentrate more on those who aren't playing by the rules." Tetlow says.
"We can focus our limited resources on serious investigations and we have had some key success in this area in the past year."
Among the successes claimed by Tetlow are the faster turnaround of operator licensing decisions and high scores for customer satisfaction in a MORI poll. with levels between 79 and 93%.
"Delivery of the new operator licensing self-service is a clear example of effective co-operation," he adds. "I'm delighted that VOSA won three awards for this new service, which has been well received by operators."
He quotes John Parry. director of engineering at Exel Logistics, who describes self-service as an innovative step for the industry."
The report notes that operator self-service has -received positive feedback from users throughout the year". By March 2005, over 40% of vehicle change transactions were carried out online and over 13.000 operators have signed up.
Improved performance from test centres has been achieved despite major renovations and staff shortages throughout the UK, the report claims, with almost all test bookings meeting the target of 18 working days. Headlamp aim the leading cause of test failure for the past two years has also been tackled.
Between 2004 and 2005 stations in Caernarfon, Leeds, Northampton and Leighton Buzzard. Beds were closed for rebuilds. and VOSA still finds it hard to attract vehicle testers and vehicle inspectors in some parts of the South-East.
A VOSA spokeswoman says the recruitment problem in the South-East is far from new; it might he linked to the cost of living in the region. But she adds that last year's recruitment campaigns were more successful than those of previous years.
The agency is currently advertising nine positions, and to help attract the right candidates it is considering bringing recruits in at a higher point in the pay scale.
"This will be reviewed and it may be that there are other factors that have a bearing, such as a lack of suitably qualified andfor experienced candidates in these areas," says the spokeswoman.
Other new initiatives for VOSA in 2004-2005 included service-level agreements and account manager pilot schemes. •