Vosa reveals strategy for future ATF growth
Page 5
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
By Laura Hailstone
VOSA AIMS to have the majority of annual tests conducted at privately run sites within a year’s time and plans to close a further 10 Vosa test stations by March 2013.
Two years after Vosa launched the authorised testing facility (ATF) contract, there are 190 ATFs in operation – 115 of which are former designated premises (DPs) that have converted across. There are still 180 DPs in operation and 63 Vosa test stations.
Vosa chief information officer Andy White tells CM that the agency’s main emphasis over the next 12 months is on developing and managing “16 targeted sales plans for selected test stations” .
He explains: “This means that we are working with existing ATFs to maximise their capacity, effectiveness and throughput where customer demand is highest.” In the Vosa Business Plan for 2012/13, the agency also says it will continue to make improvements to the way it delivers enforcement.
“Our focus will be on balancing regulatory enforcement interventions with education initiatives to empower the industry and individuals to increasingly manage their own compliance,” says Vosa chief executive Alastair Peoples.
“We will also focus our efforts on those operators and MoT garages that present the greatest risk.” In the business plan, Vosa states that during the 2012/13 period it will: review its roadside stopping process to ensure its resources are deployed more efficiently and effectively; start to implement its Operator Compliance Risk Score strategy to better identify high-risk operators; continue to provide input to the Department for Transport (DfT) regarding work on next-generation digital tachographs; and work with the DfT to implement lorry road user charging.
“Over the past few years, Vosa has significantly reduced its headcount as well as costs, and is now the right shape and size for a sustainable future,” adds Peoples.