CHANGES TO SAVE MONEY?
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• Changes to remove inconsistency should save money, claims Curtis. He says the Treasury should save £3.5m a year and transport operators up to £1.7m. Direct costs are incurred in completing forms and complying with traffic area offices' requests for information, he says. Indirect costs are incurred waiting to begin operations while the application is being processed. Research commissioned by the review found that average compliance cost for completing an 0-Licence application form is £89 and opportunely cost to the business for the average time taken to receive a licence {10 weeks and one day) equated to £2,741.
• The TAOs cost £13m to run. Around Cairn is raised by 0-Licence fees, with the difference going to enforcement. Curtis says money saved should be ploughed into enforcement —a laudable recommendation but why not reduce 0-Licence fees? • Discipline and enforcement is a key role of the LAs, but, "unless they possess, and are seen to possess, the capacity to take action against licences when operators transgress, little of the other work of the TAN will have a material effect on road safety or public confidence. More must be done to ensure that the potential penalties are such as to be a real deterrent". But Curtis reports concern from the public, pressure groups and industry that LAs are not tough enough in the decisions they take. The charge is that VI works to performance indicators, not real road safety risks.