News Extra: It’s all about the money

There’s a funding issue to be addressed in 2013 according to the transport commissioners’ annual reports, but operators aren’t expected to foot the bill. Roger Brown reports.

Senior traffic commissioner (TC) Beverley Bell said her top priority during the coming year will be to hold talks with Vosa chiefs to ensure TCs continue to be properly resourced and financed.

In the Traffic Commissioners’ Annual Reports for 2011-12, Bell explained that as their work is paid for by operators who have to run their businesses in the current difficult economic climate, she does not advocate an O-licence fee increase. “Commissioners can be effective only if we have the proper resources available to us, and this is a matter that has taxed me considerably over the past 12 months,” she said.

Looking forward

“But we are also administered by Vosa and there is a lot that Vosa can do to support commissioners in their work. I look forward to working on behalf of commissioners with Alastair Peoples [Vosa chief executive] and his board over the coming year to ensure we are properly resourced and financed. Without this we cannot be effective,” she added.

A framework document was published with the DfT earlier this year, which clarified the nature of TCs’ relationship with Vosa to support their independence.

That came after relations between TCs and Vosa become strained in 2010 when a document proposing to force commissioners to report expenses, leave, working time and hospitality direct to Peoples was released.

Milestone

So could the spat between the TCs and Vosa reignite during the upcoming funding talks? That would appear unlikely as the framework document has been endorsed by Bell, who was appointed senior TC in June 2012. It is a view shared by her fellow TCs and revealed in the annual report.

Joan Aitken, TC for Scotland, said the framework agreement marks an important milestone in the relationship between TCs and Vosa. “I began last year’s report by expressing my concern at perceived and actual threats to the independence of TCs in Britain,” she said. “This year I want to record my sincere appreciation for the work done by many people over the past year to allay such concerns and for the execution of the agreement.”

TC for Wales and the West Midlands traffic areas Nick Jones confirmed the improved morale among TCs over the past year when he said: “The effective leadership, which was lacking, is now very much in evidence following Beverley’s appointment.”

Foundations

In the report, Richard Turfitt, TC for the Eastern traffic area, highlighted the publication of the Statutory Guidance Documents that summarise the legal foundations of O-licensing and the duties of TCs as another major success in 2012. Chapters include information on topics such as repute, finance, transport managers, operating centres, driver conduct, impounding, and principles of decision making.

January 2012 also saw the appointment of two new TCs: Kevin Rooney for the North East and Nick Denton for London and South East.

Rooney expects to see more transport managers coming under scrutiny in the coming year, but said the biggest issue for operators in his region is finance. “Administration and liquidation is common, pre-pack administrations are a particular issue,” he said.

“New applicants have been greatly assisted by the statutory guidance document on finance, but establishing financial standing is a major obstacle for many operators, both new and old,” he said.

Second chance

Denton said in his report that everyone deserves a second chance, but added he is reluctant to give operators the fourth, fifth and sixth chances he believes some consider necessary. “I have also been struck by the number of transport managers coming before me with a certificate of professional competence, dating back years, who have almost no knowledge of recent legislation and what they are required to do,” he said.

“It is akin to finding an electrician who does not know how to wire a plug,” he added.

Western area TC Sarah Bell, who was given special responsibility for road transport regulation during the Olympic Games, said the increase in out-of-hours delivery slots in and around London during the Games period, and the related code of practice, provided an “excellent opportunity to take the initiative forward post-games

”.

Wrong answers

In Aitken’s view, operators north of the border continue to range from the “highly compliant to the downright criminal”. “Too many wrong answers are given to questions on application forms, for example people self-servingly awarding themselves rehabilitation as offenders when they should have declared jail sentences,” she said.

“Too many people continue to use operator licence discs long after their businesses have gone. I see many instances of new entities created in the months ahead of an HMRC writ for unpaid taxes. In a very bad example this year, a family attempted to continue in haulage by presenting forged documents to my office. Again, the genuineness of transport manager arrangements raised its head in many cases,” she said.

Senior TC Bell concluded: “The past 12 months have been a turbulent time but, despite this, commissioners have achieved a great deal.”