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Study backs regioni Traffic Areas
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• The review of Traffic Area Offices will crush any Government hopes of turning them into an executive agency, says the National Union of Civil and Public Servants.
The union says review officer John Palmer will recommend that the TAO regional structure be retained, and he is also considering the establishment of a national enforcement body.
NUCPS group assistant secretary John Gallacher says Palmer is against changing the regional structure because he believes any executive agency would need to be headed by a chief executive. Such a positio would conflict with the judicial roles of traffic commissioners, who would be able to over-rub any chief executive. "Palmer looking at the possibility of a national code of practice for traffic commissioners," says Gallacher.
The union says Palmer also favours a national enforcement agency which would be headec by a professional traffic examiner. Gallacher says: "This would be made into a Vehicle Inspectorate-type agency whic would be responsible for nationwide enforcement but would remain separate from TAOs and other Government departments."
Such an organisation would consist of large enforcement teams doing many roadside checks and increasing the number of operator prosecutions.
NUCPS also claims the review is considering extending the powers of traffic examiners to allow them to stop vehicles without the presence of police.
The Road Haulage Association says it has heard no proposals to widen the powers of traffic examiners. But the association says it has informally suggested to Palmer that the enforcement roles of vehicle and traffic examiners could be combined.
The Department of Transport is also considering cutting the number of traffic areas as part of the review. TAO clerks are no longer responsible for driver testing and training work, which has been set up as a separate body, and driver licence work will be transferred to the DVLC in Swansea in 1991.
NUCPS claims three or more traffic area offices will be forced to close.
In a letter to members, the union says: "The Metropolitan TAO will certainly not do any work outside of the Greater London boundary and the resultant transfer of work to another TAO may keep Eastbourne and/or Bristol open — this has yet to be decided. Cambridge and Newcastle look doomed."
Western TAO traffic commissioner Major-General John Carpenter says: "One option is to make traffic areas large and reduce the number of TA0s." 0 Palmer is writing to NUCPS to challenge the union's interpretation of his comments at the meeting. Palmer's conclusions will be passed to the Dip at the end of this month.