Has it Occurred?
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TN the first rush of enthusiasm for the contents of the transport .1 White Paper, very few have stopped to consider the side effects. For instance: "Who goes home"? If licensing continues in its present form and the Government purge on expenditure continues, the new NFA, covering as'it will both road and rail transport, will require only one representative in court in place of the two we have today.
If one British Rail advocate is correct they all go home. He visualizes the NEA having regional offices and handing out permits to hauliers to carry specified loads. This method will certainly dispense with licensing courts and the redundant advocates can become NFA queue controllers, thus satisfying another Government policy of redeployment of labour.
So Mr. Peter Walker could be wrong when he says: "Never has there been a White Paper with so many words and so few actions". Or it may be that the BR advocate who inspired all this could be wrong. For his sake, we hope so !