Operators of authorised testing facilities (AFTs) will be delighted to hear that Vosa has made savings of nearly £29m on refurbishing its own vehicle testing stations since the testing transformation process began.
"Through the success of the testing transformation programme Vosa has been able to cease testing in over 20 sites and has been able to move 14 sites to a part-time operational status,” the agency told The Hub recently.
“This has enabled Vosa to avoid maintenance, running costs, replacement and/or refurbishment of expensive test lane equipment and infrastructure.
"In a number of cases Vosa has also relocated staff to smaller, more efficient office facilities, which avoids the running and maintenance costs of large and ageing goods vehicle testing stations.”
In the four years since the introduction of the ATF strategy, the agency has made “no significant investment” in its testing estate, a spokeswoman for Vosa added.
Over the first 10 years, a net capital expenditure saving of £64m is anticipated from the move to ATFs, the DfT recently revealed (see Vosa's doing just fine, thanks for more).
The savings aren’t limited to capital expenditure on Vosa’s test stations, however: since the testing transformation programme began, says the agency, it has also reduced capital repayments on a loan from the DfT from £712,000 to £365,000 a year – an annual reduction of over £347,000 – with total interest payments over the term of the loan falling from £6.64m to £5.13m, yielding a further £1.5m.
Vosa is planning a further nine test station closures before the end of March 2014, confirmed the spokeswoman.