'Unacceptable' lest fees— FTA
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5 THE GOVERNMENT prepares to crease the fee for a heavy goods hide driving test by 57 per cent, the eight Transport Association says that e Department of Transport should ercise tighter controls over costs. ider new proposals, the cost of an iv driving licence will rise by a similar tount.
FTA does not accept the DTp's concluin that the £47 fee is acceptable for a two ur test and says that even £40 is hard to itify. In addition, the FTA cannot underInd why DTp has waited so long before Pposing an increase if its costs have been ing at the rate now shown.
DTp says that the £30 fee did not ver the cost of a test when introduced in 178. FTA says that information it received May 1979 contradicts this — for the iek ending June 1, 1978, the actual cost each test was £28.94, it is claimed.
In addition, the DTp agreed that the propriation of supervising examiners work necessary for HGV tests was incorrect and could be reduced by two-thirds. The effect of this change was to further reduce the June 1978 figure by about £150 per test.
Over the two year period to June 1980, inflation brings the 1978 costs to a hypothetical £37.04. Allowances for inflation over the coming year, made by the DTp, bring a total of £40.60. The figures provide for inflation and the FTA sees no need for a further contingency element, let alone one of seven per cent.
The hgv driving licence cost increase, from £3 to £4.60, at face value does not seem unreasonable to the FTA. The Association says that when the £3 fee was set, the actual cost of issuing a licence was £1.40 with the balance, at that time, being used to offset the cost of the hgv driver testing scheme. In real terms, says FTA, the increase is from £1.40 to £4.60 — a 228 per cent rise.