Parkinson rejects national LA plan
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• The plan for a national licensing authority — one of the cornerstones of the Pa!flier Review of Operator Licensing has been rejected by Transport Secretary Cecil Parkinson.
Instead, one of the eight Licensing Authorities will become a senior commissioner, keeping his present job, but overseeing his colleagues in a bid to create a more consistent policy on licensing.
This is likely to be the longest-serving Licensing Authority, currently MajorGeneral John Carpenter of the Western Traffic Area.
The concept of a national licensing authority is a "dead duck", says Carpenter, who has been a Licensing Authority for 15 years. It would mean ending the "personal touch" which LAs have with their areas, and add an extra layer of bureaucracy, he says.
The Palmer recommendation to merge the Vehicle Inspectorate and the Traffic Examiners will go ahead, with the new body likely to be called the Vehicle Inspectorate and Enforcement Authority, says Carpenter. The merger is scheduled for 1 April 1991. But traffic examiners are "very hostile" to the move, according to the National Union of Civil and Public Servants, and some form of industrial action "which would hit the Government and not the industry" could be on the cards.
The NUCPS has been sounding out opinions on the proposals from the offices nationwide, and plans to call a transport conference in February to co-ordinate action.