Vosa appears to have softened its stance towards operators of authorised testing facilities (ATFs) after the ATF Operators Association raised concerns regarding the contractual clampdown it announced in June.
A Vosa statement last week said it had managed to improve examiner utilisation since the Station Manager ATF Frame- work measures were announced, and would not necessarily restrict access to examiner time or shut down ATFs in cases where further action was required.
“By working through the framework together, we have so far achieved the objective of increasing productivity.
“If further action is required with an ATF, it is not a foregone conclusion that we will withdraw our staff or the ATF,” said the statement.
This contrasts with its comments in June, when it stated that “ATFs that do not meet the expected utilisation will have their sessions reduced” and that “cancelling testing periods with less than seven days’ notice will result in future months’ testing periods being reduced”.
It is not clear whether Vosa has also softened its stance on failed drawdowns of fees, however.
In June, it said it would start cancelling a month’s testing periods if there were two failures in any month in drawdowns and would also consider termination of ATF contracts in more serious cases.
Stephen Smith, president of the ATF Operators Association, welcomed the “more pragmatic approach” being shown by Vosa but said it didn’t go far enough. He also countered Vosa’s assertion in the statement that the framework was not a change in the ATF contract.
“It’s our view that these new rules, if enforced, constitute a material change in the contract because it has not consulted us and we think they are unreasonable,” he said.
Smith, who has not ruled out taking legal action if the rules are enforced, said the association would wait for next year’s examiner allocations to be confirmed in the next few weeks before deciding how to proceed.
