VOSA enforcement activities: Government responds to Transport Committee report

In August 2009 the House of Commons’ Transport Committee published a report on the enforcement activities of VOSA.

The Department of Transport and VOSA have now responded to the report. Key features of the response are:

Testing transformation VOSA test stations will only close when ministers are assured that there is sufficient alternative capacity in the market. It testing stations are transferred to the private sector, VOSA plans to do this under a lease with a restrictive covenant which, among other things, obliges the lessee to continue to host testing on a basis where it will be open to all.

Roadside enforcement VOSA has been trialling the use of speed guns to provide information on speed limiter and fraudulent tachograph recording offences. The practical introduction of the devices is now being assessed.

Operator Compliance Risk Score (OCRS) As part of the next step to further enhance the OCRS system, the newly introduced graduated fixed penalties will be included in the scoring mechanism. The intention is to capture all offences detected at the roadside and the seriousness of the offence detected - rather than a single score for each offence.

Enforcement of foreign-registered hgv safety standards VOSA reports that it has started to see increases in compliance in foreign-based traffic, particularly in respect of drivers' hours as a result of graduated fixed penalties and the associated deposit scheme. The targeting of information on foreign-registered hgvs is to be improved with the development of an OCRS database for non-UK traffic. VOSA has a target to introduce this by the end of 2009/10.

Fixed penalty and deposit levels Both of these and other key aspects of the scheme will be included in a post-implementation review scheduled for May 2010.

Immediate notification of vehicle changes on O licences VOSA continues to hold out the prospect that improvements in the online systems over the next few years will make this possible.