No sell off for road safety
3 July 2008
The news follows a long campaign by members of the Public and Commercial Services union, Prospect and Unite working in the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA), and is testament to their hard work and dedication.
VOSA is responsible for checking the safety of heavy goods vehicles, public service vehicles and the monitoring of MOT garages. The unions feared outsourcing these functions would go against the government’s stated objectives on road safety.
The decision represents a massive vote of confidence in VOSA as a public service, and the government has pledged to invest £28m in the agency this year, most of which will go towards modernising testing facilities and IT support.
A further £36m will also be available over the next two years to support investment in facilities.
Despite being one of the chief architect’s of the outsourcing plan, VOSA chief executive Stephen Tetlow paid tribute to workers’ “professionalism, commitment and desire to improve road safety”.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “This is fantastic news. Not just for our members in VOSA who showed their determination to keep their jobs and the services they provide in the public sector, but also for the travelling public who will be assured that road safety is not for sale. We hope the government will finally recognise that public services are best provided by well resourced public servants.”
Helen Stevens, Prospect negotiations officer, said: “Our testing system is one of the best in Europe. Today’s announcement will go some way to help keep it that way. It is just a shame, however, that the government didn’t listen sooner and save the taxpayers millions wasted in consultants’ fees.”
Jerry Pickford, Unite negotiations officer, said: " "Following a long struggle to prevent the outsourcing of VOSA functions, I am delighted with today's announcement not only to retain VOSA within the public sector but also the increased investment. We have always believed that privatising VOSA was wrong, and would lead to less safe roads in Britain. Virtually every interested part of the industry agreed with us."
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