The RHA highlighted the unacceptable level of cancellations that now apply to roadworthiness testing at ATFs, saying they undermine road safety and are damaging hauliers and ATFs.
Burnett is urging members to provide evidence of ATF cancellations so that RHA can return to DVSA and “jointly solve the problem”.
DVSA has 510 fully qualified DVSA testers currently, with plans to increase this number to 549 by the end of April.
Responding to a Freedom of Information request from the Authorised Testing Facility Operators Association (ATFOA), DVSA gave the staffing figures and said it is aware that testers have been moved “from around the UK to supply [the] London area”.
DVSA could not provide specific data on the cost of providing overnight accommodation for testers in the London area, but did reveal that it had received more than 72,000 claims for an overnight stay for the whole of DVSA in the year 2015/16.
Stephen Smith, ATFOA chairman, also asked DVSA to declare how much compensation has been paid to ATFs for ‘no-shows’ since the scheme’s inception. The payouts have soared to more than £336,000 for the year to date, 2017/18, from £3,400 in 2015/16 – a rise of more than 10,000%.