IS IT SAFE, MINISTER?
Page 7
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
month ago Scottish Licensing Authority Michael Betts stated in his annual report to the DOT:"We appear to be seeing now the results of cutbacks in the Vehicle Inspectorate. I do find this worrying when there is no evidence of a significant improvement in vehicle standards." His words set off quite a few alarm bells, not least with Labour's Shadow Transport Minister Joan Walley MP, who wrote to Road Safety Minister Stephen Norris for reassurance. His written reply has been shown to CM and it makes depressing reading, consisting of the kind of convoluted statistical departmentspeak that would raise a whistle of admiration from any "Sir Humphrey". For obfuscation it scores 11 out of 10. At the heart of Norris's letter are three highly debatable points. The first is: 'There was no reduction in the national budget for HGV spot checks in 1994/5." That may be so, but the minister then confirms that the number of HGV checks that were achieved by the VI during 1994/5 fell by nearly 6%. The second concerns the DOT's decision to stop "the practice of distributing resources according to inspection results". According to Norris this is "insufficiently reliable as a targeting criterion." But two paragraphs earlier he says that following the application of such a policy, Scottish prohibition rates (previously "significantly higher" than those in the rest of Britain) "...had dropped below the average for the rest of Britain". If that isn't a reliable targeting criterion, what is? And finally, having switched enforcement budgeting to a system based on the number of vehicles in each Traffic Area we learn that "Scottish areas will have rather fewer checks this year". In this case "rather fewer" equates to a cut of 21%. Sir Humphrey would be proud. If the Scottish LA reckons that the VI cutbacks hit enforcement last year then this letter actually spells out what he's going to lose this year. Not exactly what you'd call a reassuring reply, Minister. ii 1905-19951
\ \TVERSARY
• Next week, thanks to escalating costs, we're having to raise the cover price of Commercial Motor to £1 .25. We reckon it's only Fair for CM readers to expect more For their money. So in next week's issue you'll get a free pull-out legal guide to truck weighing, together with the latest instalment in our popular Used Truck Collection. We've also turned the editorial spotlight on East Anglia and will reveal the results of our Trailer of the Year competition. Oh, and there's a chance to win a 250,000 Iveco EuroTech free for a Year—so don't say we don't do anything for you...