PCS: Unions protest over privatisation of lorry checking

Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), Prospect and Unite will be protesting today (27 June) outside a board meeting of the Department for Transport (DfT) in a bid to avert the privatisation of the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA).

Today’s protest will take place outside the headquarters of the DfT, Great Minster House, London from 8:30am to 10:30am as the DfT board decides whether to recommend the privatisation of VOSA to the secretary of state.

VOSA is responsible for checking the safety of heavy goods vehicles, public service vehicles and the monitoring of MOT garages. The unions fear that a move to outsource the functions of VOSA would threaten the integrity and independence of the inspection regime and go against the government’s stated objectives on road safety.

VOSA’s own estimates, based on its duty to monitor private garages undertaking MOT testing, show that 15% of all car MOTs delivered by the private sector each year are deficient – against a percentage of deficient lorry MOTs delivered by VOSA of 0.09%, or 0.03%.for buses.

The unions, which represent up to 2,650 people working for VOSA, are urging the board of DfT to consider the whole of the business plan for the privatisation which they believe is seriously flawed and contradictory.

Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: “The plans to outsource work are flawed and will compromise road safety. Not only would these plans threaten the integrity and independence of the inspection regime, but they would also undermine the government’s targets on road safety. The DfT board should take the chance to throw out these damaging proposals.”

Prospect general secretary Paul Noon said: “After Railtrack and Metronet it seems inconceivable that anyone could still believe public-private partnerships and transport are a good mix. Yet some VOSA functions, including HGV and public service vehicle testing, remain under the threat of privatisation. Our members believe that the largest and heaviest vehicles on the road should be examined by an organisation focused purely on safety and without any restrictions imposed by the need to return a profit.”

Unite regional officer Jerry Pickford said: “This is another example of the government’s continuing policy of privatisation of the public sector. Expensive consultants have been brought in, not to look at how the agency can be improved, but to see how it can be handed over to the private sector, more interested in making profit than ensuring public safety.”


ENDS

Notes to editors

¿ For further information, interviews and comment please contact PCS campaigns officer, Sarah Kavanagh on 020 7801 2771 or 07990 665529 or Prospect Communications on 020 7902 6625.

¿ PCS, the Public and Commercial Services Union is the union representing civil and public servants in central government. It has more than 315,000 members in over 200 departments and agencies. It also represents workers in parts of government transferred to the private sector. PCS is the UK’s sixth largest union and is affiliated to the TUC. The general secretary is Mark Serwotka and the president Janice Godrich.

¿ Prospect is a trade union representing 102,000 scientific, technical, managerial and specialist staff in the civil service, related public bodies and major companies.


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