The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has been unveiled as the new name for the combined Vosa and Driving Standards Agency (DSA) today (28 November).
Robert Goodwill, parliamentary under secretary of state for transport, said he had considered “a range of options” for the name of the new agency.
“I have decided that it will be known as the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, to reflect the work of both its predecessors and the crucial contribution they make to road safety,” he said.
There will be a gradual introduction of the new agency name until the merger is complete on 1 April 2014. References to DVSA will include the following annotation 'incorporating DSA and VOSA’ until this time.
Following a consultation looking at all four of its Motoring Services Agencies, the DfT announced in June that the DSA and Vosa would merge to form a single motoring agency.
The DVSA will have a broad range of responsibilities, including processing O-licence applications, operating testing schemes for all vehicles, and enforcing the law on vehicles to ensure that they comply with legal standards and regulations.
The agency will also enforce drivers’ hours and licensing requirements, provide training and advice for commercial vehicle operators, investigate vehicle accidents, defects and recalls, and run tests for instructors of large goods vehicles, as well as driver trainers.
Alastair Peoples, chief executive of Vosa since 2009, was named head of the new agency in the summer.
The full announcement can be viewed here.
