Examination of Witnesses (Questions 220-239)
MR STEPHEN
HICKEY, MISS
ROSEMARY THEW,
MR CLIVE
BENNETT, MR
PAUL MARKWICK
AND MR
STEPHEN TETLOW
8 FEBRUARY 2006
Q220 Chairman: You mean you did not
know what to tell them before you gave them the parameters which
introduced the system?
Mr Tetlow: The original specification
needed quite a lot of amending as it went through in the consultation
with the trade. There was also the security aspect of the system
which was probably under-estimated. A lot of changes were made
to the original technical specification of the system as it went
along which compounded the delay.
Q221 Chairman: What timetable are
we talking about now?
Mr Tetlow: We have renegotiated
the contract. In our new business plan we set a timetable to have
the computer system rolled out by April this year, and we are
on target to do that. We have, as of last week, 17,400 garages
live on the system out of 18,400.
Q222 Chairman: 17,400?
Mr Tetlow: 17,400 are now live
on the system.
Q223 Chairman: You have a very small
amount to go, is that what you are telling us?
Mr Tetlow: About a thousand to
go.
Q224 Mr Goodwill: Mr Tetlow, what
are the advantages of having this system computerised for the
car owner and I suppose for the Government as well? What are the
advantages which we have had to wait two years longer for than
we would have expected?
Mr Tetlow: For the consumer, the
motorist, they get a better service. It means that the integrity
of the MOT system can be much better monitored. You know the quality
control which we can apply to the way the MOT system is administered
which we could not do before. It provides better customer services,
some of which are due to come but one of which is electronic vehicle
licensing which we heard about, that would not have been possible
before. For the Garages, the MORI poll which we have just completed
says 97% of garages have said it is either an improved or better
system than they had before, as far as they are concerned. For
the Government, you are getting a better administered system which
should lead to safer vehicles on the road.
Q225 Mr Goodwill: I taxed a vehicle
on-line, it was a tractor which did not need an MOT so I guess
that is why I could do it. Is it not true that for two years the
customers have been paying a Rolls-Royce price but continuing
to get the less than a Rolls-Royce service? Do you not think it
is right that they should only pay for the enhanced service when
it is available?
Mr Tetlow: I think in effect they
have. There has been a staged increase in those prices to pay
for the system as it has been coming on-line. I think it is very
true to say that the cash balance, because of the delay, we have
delayed payments to Siemens until the system has come on-line.
There is an argument to say that if this had not been done in
the way it was, the taxpayer or the motorist would have had a
much greater burden. What we are intending to do is hold the price
increase down as long as we can, balanced against the continuing
investment we need to make into the system.
Q226 Mr Goodwill: At what point do
you think the police using their roadside cameras will be able
to start checking for which cars are MOT-ed and which are not?
Presumably that is the end game, that is the real benefit that
as well as checking on people who have not paid their car tax
we will be able to pick up on cars which are not insured and cars
that are not MOT-ed. At what point will that be viable to the
police?
Mr Tetlow: To some extent the
police can get into that database now. They can check that against
the database.
Mr Hickey: The MOT database will
not be completely populated until the full roll-out which takes
you into a year after the last car goes to the last garage. It
is a way off before the database is complete. It is building up
fast.
Q227 Mr Goodwill: When will that
be?
Mr Tetlow: About two years.
Mr Hickey: Theoretically the last
garage goes live next month. If I have my car MOT-ed the day before
it goes live it is another year, you can miss it by a day. It
could be two years off.
Chairman: I am conscious of the fact
we have kept you quite a long time but we have a little bit more
to ask you.
Q228 Clive Efford: What constitutes
a suitable location to carry out inspections and roadside checks
across the country?
Mr Tetlow: Do you mean in terms
of the annual test inspections?
Q229 Clive Efford: No, the roadside
inspection, the spot checks?
Mr Tetlow: Spot checks?
Q230 Clive Efford: Yes?
Mr Tetlow: Where we think the
most transgressions are likely to be.
Q231 Clive Efford: Let me give you
a steer of what I am aiming at. We have had evidence from Stena
Line Ports Limited that there is a disproportionate amount of
inspections which take place near to their ports which has a knock-on
effect on their business in terms of people suspecting that there
may be stops close to that port therefore not using that port
and using another route.
Mr Tetlow: In terms of targeting
various operators we think who are going to transgress, we will
target port stops on those roads where we think there are likely
to be a lot of transgressions.
Q232 Clive Efford: Do you publish
the results so where the amount of stops are taking place are
publicly known in order that people can see the system is transparent
and that there is a fair spread?
Mr Tetlow: We do not necessarily
publish where we are going to do our stopping in advance because
that would defeat the object.
Q233 Clive Efford: No, but the outcomes?
Mr Tetlow: In terms of the outcomes,
yes we do publish our outcomes of where we stop and how we have
done.
Q234 Clive Efford: It would be possible
for someone to find these figures and look at what the outcomes
were?
Mr Tetlow: I think by individual
location, no they could not, but we can tell you by which nationality
and which enforcement area where we applied our effort.
Q235 Clive Efford: Does that complaint
from Stena cause you any concern? Is it something you would look
at?
Mr Tetlow: It rings true. I am
aware of that particular complaint. I am also aware of a large
amount of illegal traffic coming out of that particular port.
What we do try and do is work very closely with the port authorities
to come to a successful or reasonable compromise.
Q236 Clive Efford: What about the
geographical spread of these locations? It has been suggested
to us that they are more based on the 1960s than their current
pattern of travel.
Mr Tetlow: I would say that applies
more to the test stations themselves rather than the test sites.
If I deal with the test stations, I think it is true to say that
the vast amount of our estate was built in the 1960s and life
has moved on from there. We are looking very carefully at the
new locations and how we need to change our estate to meet more
modern needs. That refers to the just under 100 test stations
that we have around the country, we are doing a lot of work on
that, and a lot of investment. In terms of where the test sites
are, for example the weighbridges, as Mr Hickey referred to earlier,
again there is some more modernisation that needs doing. We have
been building new sites, there is one on the M24 and we are looking
at the moment at putting new enforcement sites especially on the
M2 and M20 hopefully next year.
Q237 Clive Efford: You are currently
reviewing that and there is the possibility of relocations?
Mr Tetlow: Yes, that is right.
Q238 Clive Efford: How effectively
does this system of vehicle checking operate in Europe? Has any
effort been made to improve procedures across the EU?
Mr Tetlow: Yes. We do transfer
and share data across the EU. We do have a number of fora with
which we deal and share enforcement data.
Q239 Chairman: The EU does go in
for fora as we all know.
Mr Tetlow: Indeed.
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