TMLs: Govt opts out
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• Mr John Peyton, Minister for Transport Industries, has replied to the Transport Managers' Licence Committee and to the National Guild of Transport Managers, who had written to him with suggestions for transport managers' licensing.
To Mr D. H. Joyce, chairman of the Transport Managers' Licence Committee. the Minister says: "I have studied with great interest the proposals in your letter of January 14 for a voluntary transport managers' certification scheme.
"I should be very glad to see a scheme set up by the industry on lines acceptable to it, and would welcome that which your Committee proposes. But I fear I can hold Out very little prospect, in view of the Government's declared policies about relations with industry, of a loan from the Government. There does not seem to be any reason why the bodies represented on your committee should not arrange the necessary finance, especially as the scheme is eventually to be self-supporting.
"I do appreciate the work that has gone into the preparation of your proposals and will, of course, be happy to consider any further views you wish to put to me on finance."
In his letter to Mr F. P. Coult, secretary of the National Guild of Transport Managers, Mr Peyton says: "Thank you for your letter of December IS. I have thought about it in the light of the proposals for a voluntary scheme put forward by the Committee of which Mr D. H. Joyce is chairman.
"The industry already has to meet the safety standards laid on it by statute in the operators' licensing system. I should need concrete evidence that the disciplinary powers of the Licensing Authorities are inadequate if I were to agree to an extension of statutory control.
"I shall of course be happy to receive any evidence your Guild wishes to offer on this point."
Mr Coult commented on the Minister's letter as follows:—
"W e are quite pleased at the obviously serious consideration which the Minister is giving to our proposals. It is understandable that he should want to be convinced of the necessity for any additional statutory controls in the industry. The Guild is against the introduction of new laws for their own sake, just as much as Mr Peyton.
"In formulating our registration plan the evidence in favour of a statutory scheme being both wanted and needed was overwhelming. We are now going to put such evidence in a form acceptable to the Minister and we believe he will find it as convincing as we did. If he does, there is nothing to stop the Guild registration plan being introduced before the end of the year.
"A specially called meeting of the Guild TMR committee will consider Mr Peyton's letter on Saturday."
The TMI, committee had no comment to make this week; at its scheduled meeting next Tuesday it will discuss Mr Pcyton's answer.