DVSA boss takes parting shot at traffic commissioners

Long-standing tensions between Great Britain’s traffic commissioners (TCs) and the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) came to a head late last year, when outgoing DVSA chief executive Gareth Llewellyn called for the TCs to be abolished.

Speaking to the all-party parliamentary select committee on transport, Mr Llewellyn told the MPs that: “In the operator world there’s a group called the traffic commissioners. Now I am firmly of the view that we don’t need the traffic commissioners any more.

“They are anachronistic.They were probably OK in the 1930s, but the reality is we have a really good track record of enforcement through the courts and tribunal service and I think we should be doing that for operators as well and that will save us millions and millions of pounds.

“Not necessarily in terms of people, but in terms of simplifying systems and removing unnecessary estate.”

Currently, while DVSA deals with enforcement of legal operator and driver activity, including the annual testing of vehicles, the roadside examination of vehicles, and compliance with drivers’ hours and licence acquisition, it is the TCs who are responsible for judging the fitness of operators, transport managers and drivers to enter and remain in the industry, acting in a quasi-judicial function through public inquiries and conduct hearings.

Former Senior TC Beverley Bell was on the record as being critical of DVSA’s increasing emphasis on deskbased enforcement, arguing that checking paperwork and computer records was no substitute for enforcement on the ground, and using intelligence to target problem operators. She argued that small operators who were “trying very hard to be compliant” could fall foul of desk-based enforcement, while larger operators might escape sanction, not because they were any more compliant but because their systems made them appear to be.

In 2014, after DVSA was formed from the merger of VOSA and the Driving Standards Agency, she told the transport select committee that the softwarebased approach exemplified in the then-new operator compliance risk score (OCRS) would not be effective without physical checks at the roadside and in operators’ premises.

“OCRS is not the answer to everything,” Mrs Bell had said. “It’s important to look at the intelligence that DVSA receives, to act on it and regularly check and make sure that operators are compliant. It is vital to actually go and visit operators. There is a real need for examiners to be out there, both at the roadside and at operators’ premises.”

Responding to Mr Llewellyn’s recent comments regarding the TCs, David Wells, the chief executive of Logistics UK (formerly the Freight Transport Association), said: “To say the traffic commissioner service is ‘anachronistic’ and the haulage industry does not need its support totally ignores the huge benefits in safety and compliance which the service provides to the sector.

“During the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, the TCs supported industry to keep goods and services flowing to keep the country running, unlike DVSA, which closed down all its services and only reacted to the urgent needs of operators when pushed by industry. The TCs kept their doors open to assist the work of our members throughout 2020 – a modern and forward-thinking approach, and not one rooted in the 20th century, as Mr Llewellyn claimed.”

Mr Llewellyn’s replacement is Loveday Ryder, moving from a position as BPDTS Ltd’s chief executive officer. BPDTS provides specialist digital technology services to the Department for Work and Pensions. Previously, Ms Ryder spent 12 years at the Ministry of Justice, where she served in a number of senior roles in organisation design, change management and programme delivery.

She said: “I’m thrilled and excited to be joining DVSA, whose people are so passionate about helping everyone stay safe on Britain’s roads. “I want to help build on the successes already achieved through DVSA’s five-year strategy.”

She continued: “DVSA will continue to change, improve and modernise services for customers, embrace smarter ways of working and make the most of new technology while making sure road safety remains at the heart of everything we do. “I’m looking forward to supporting DVSA colleagues in the vital work they do to help achieve the vision we all share – safer drivers, safer vehicles and journeys for all.”