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LOSEMQUEUES
Page 16
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Stephen Tetlow Chief executive Vehicle and Operator Services Agency cc: Stephen Ladyman, Minister of State for Transport ; Gwynneth Dunwoody, Chair of the Transport Select Committee Dear Mr Tetlow For several weeks, Commercial Motor has been tracking the difficulties faced by operators and dealers when trying to book annual vehicle tests and retests.There are widespread and significant delays and, while these are more severe in some regions than others, it appears to be a nationwide problem.
Operators cannot afford vehicle downtime, so delays in test availability have a severe impact on them. While many can book test slots in advance, this is not always possible — dealerships in particular are at the mercy of the market. In addition we have been approached by one company that has i nvested millions in establishing designated test premises with Vosa's approval,only to find that the agency cannot staff these sites to a satisfactory level.Annual testing is a crucial part of the road safety agenda and anything threatening that agenda must be looked at with the utmost urgency.
It seems Vosa faces two main challenges in meeting operators needs: • Servicing the balance between roadside enforcement and testing following the recent staff cuts.
• Dealing with the negative side effects of the Test Transformation:Business Re-engineering Programme,which seem to have contributed to a duplication of some work while leading to a lack of staff to deal with basic customer services such as answering the phone.
We welcome the many responses Vosa has already given us to explain these issues, as well as the announcement that the organisation is now recruiting more vehicle testers. However, on behalf of the UK road transport industry, we urge you to consider the following suggestions immediately: 1. Recruit sufficient test station staff to offer all operators tests within 10 working days.
2. Ensure Vosa has the staff and the flexibility to allow out-of-hours testing on demand.
3. Draw up service level agreements with everyone who owns or runs designated premises to justify and protect their investment and service their commercial requirements, 4. Recruit more agents for Vosa's centralised phone booking system and introduce online booking as soon as possible. We feel this matter is urgent, for political as well as commercial reasons.
Please note that no one has complained to us about the professionalism of Vosa employees. Operators hold the individuals who man their local test stations in particular in high regard; this should make you and them very proud.
Yours sincerely Andy Salter Editor