Turfitt speaks up for traffic commissioners

Commercial Motor
July 18, 2018


Senior traffic commissioner (TC) Richard Turfitt was grilled by members of the House of Commons transport committee earlier this month on a range of subjects.

The senior TC gave evidence at Portcullis House on 2 July for just over 90 minutes about the TCs’ statutory responsibilities, an average day for a TC, salaries, vehicle safety, internal recruitment and working partnerships. The committee wanted to learn more about the role and responsibilities of TCs and their work with the DfT, DVSA and courts.

When asked about the recent achievements of the TCs, he said: “Going back to March last year, we joined in the Think campaign on mobiles. We were given about 25,000 leaflets, which we targeted at professional drivers attending driver contact hearings because mobile phone usage is still unacceptably high among professional drivers.”

The TC told the committee how in October, the office had launched its first digital news service and now has about 9,000 subscribers.

He also told members about the success of the brake testing campaign jointly carried out last November with the DVSA. Luke Pollard MP asked if the flow of information between the DVSA and the TCs is getting better.

Turfitt replied: “Cases are communicated electronically. The improvements are small, but they are being implemented all the time. Basic things such as document labelling help the tribunal staff to prepare the case quicker so that it gets listed quicker; as does making sure that the lines of inquiry are properly understood by examiners and what type of things would result in a strong tribunal finding.”

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