Environment Agency becomes first government body to sign up to earned recognition

The new status means EA vehicles are less likely to be stopped for inspections, in exchange for regularly sharing performance information around vehicle and driver compliance with the DVSA.

Its fleet totals 33 lorries, ranging in weight from 7.5-tonnes – 44-tonnes, and supports a range of operational and incident response activities, including the delivery of equipment such as plant machinery, pumps and temporary flood defence barriers to communities at risk of flooding.

Neil Davies, EA director of sustainability, funding and service operations, said: “Gaining earned recognition for our management of this essential part of our fleet is the result of great collaborative work by our fleet and operations teams and is the culmination of several years of hard graft.

“It demonstrates our commitment to upholding high standards of road safety, safeguarding both our drivers and the public.

“We are immensely proud of this achievement, which will support our wider efforts to protect people and the environment.”

Marian Kitson, DVSA director of enforcement, added: “We’re pleased that the Environment Agency has joined our earned recognition scheme. They have become the first government agency to achieve this status.

“Membership of the earned recognition scheme shows the Environment Agency are committed to meeting the highest safety standards for their commercial vehicles and drivers.”

The ER scheme was launched in April 2018 and last year the DVSA said 10% of the national heavy vehicle fleet was now a member.

Figures provided by the agency showed that this equated to 124 operators, 403 operator licences, 42,955 HGVs and 17,694 PSVs.