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Our panel opposes 0-licence transfer from Its to Vosa
Page 38
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Department for Transport (DfT)
proposals to transfer
0-licensing from the Traffic Commissioners to Vosa have received a big thumbs down from CM'S reader panel. Some believe it spells the beginning of the end for TCs, whose independence is highly valued by the industry.
Pat Hagan reports.
0 f all the things that can have an effect on the working life of a haulier, buses running late has to be the most unlikely. Yet government plans to 'modernise' bus services in Britain could have significant consequences for road transport firms up and down the country.
Because to speedup this process the Department for Transport has proposed a radical shake-up in the role of the eight Traffic Commissioners in England. Scotland and Wales who oversee the running of passenger transport services as well as freight. Traffic Commissioners to report directly to ministers was shelved in the Queen's Speech (Plans to create board ofTCs are shelved', CM 15 November). This would have allocated the workload to individual TCs and appointed a new director of 0-licensing who would be accountable for the performance of support staff The idea, said the Dff, was to make sure that while TCs remain independent, they would take account of government wishes. It warned that 0-licence fees might have to increase to cover the cost of the new structure.The industry has breathed a collective sigh of relief that this part of the plan has been dropped.
The Freight Transport Association had rejected the proposals, saying the current system is not broken so irdoesn't need fixing in this way". It remains concerned about the plans to give Vosa the power to issue 0-licences.This, it argues,would make it "both judge and jury on one hand, and policeman on the other".
It's a view which is largely backed by CM's operator panel members,most of whom appear to value the independence of TCs, with their legal grounding.