The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (Vosa) is facing interesting times in a distinctly oriental sense. Staff within its Vehicle Inspectorate division are being asked to push through change, jobs are at risk and morale is at an all-time low (see panel). On top of this, the brief for examining privatisation options seems to be wider than ever. The Vehicle Inspectorate section of trade union Prospect focused its annual delegates' meeting last week on the uncertainty Vosa staff face as consultants Deloitte and Touche investigate outsourcing options.
The cost of the consultancy is a matter of "commercial sensitivity", but insiders place the figure at almost £1m. Despite enquiries at many levels, Vosa's senior management refuses to reveal to the union the terms of reference Deloitte have been given - apparently that too is "commercially sensitive". Commercial Motor was told by Vosa's press office: "Regarding the current status of the consultancy project/feasibility study on outsourcing: Vosa has appointed Deloitte & Touche to work in a joint project team as an external consultant. It is researching all aspects of the Vosa business, including responsibilities, structures, resources, costs and assets to include IT, equipment, buildings and land."
Terms are secret
The press office also confirmed that the exact terms of the brief were confidential, although the spokeswoman could not explain why the wording of a brief concerning a government department should not be in the public domain. The results of the report are expected in the spring. This secrecy makes the unions anxious. "It's outrageous," says David Millar, negotiations officer at the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS). He adds: "It makes us feel this is not an objective examination, but the brief is rather how it can be made to happen." Vosa also says it has "begun detailed work with customers trade associations, designated premises owners and operators". These parties break down into two basic camps: those who would like to step into the lucrative work of vehicle testing and think it should be outsourced, and those who will remain customers.
Some of the truck manufacturers are keen on the idea of absorbing test management into their remit, as is the Freight Transport Association. Its chief executive, Richard Turner, has had many meetings with Vosa chief executive Stephen Tetlow and recently expressed his support for the scheme in our sister paper Motor Transport. Gywnneth Dunwoody MP, chair of the Transport Select Committee, addressed the Prospect annual delegates' meeting for the VI last week. On the subject of VI privatisation she said: "You have my support There are some things government must do for us. Trading fund status is appropriate to many agencies but the commitment to service standards is essential. I do not believe an element of profit will include the standard of the service."
It's not inevitable
Asked whether she thought privatisation was inevitable, she told delegates: "No - but you have to make people aware of what you do. All your members are capable of writing. Get them writing letters now." The unions, including Amicus, Prospect and the PCS, have three major areas of concern for members. Firstly, they believe that independent government-led roadside testing and enforcement for the road freight industry is essential to public and road safety. "People don't come into this part of the civil service because it's good way to get rich," says Kevin Warden, VI section secretary. "They have a genuine belief that it's a public service protecting safety. As soon as you introduce a profit line into that, the concern for public interest disappears."
They are also concerned by Tetlow's pedigree. He is remembered as the Brigadier of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers who outsourced a lot of army procurement, including vehicle provision. Anecdotally this has many detractors who say it has lowered standards and services in the armed forces. One Prospect member told the annual meeting: "I was in the army under Tetlow's reign. I served for two years longer at the front line, but resigned my commission because of the downturn in services [following outsourcing]."
Tetlow has reportedly told union officials that "government is there to govern, not to do", meaning that those paid directly by central taxation should not engage in that which could be done by the private sector. It is unclear whether this is a view he espoused to Her Majesty's Armed Forces. Warden feels that Vosa is in a worse position than ever to defend itself against enforced change: "We've fought this battle on privatisation before, but it was always against external forces. Now we have someone within the organisation driving us down this route. I've never felt that our situation was more dangerous."
Cause of unease
The third and major plank of Vosa staff's unease is that the privatisation net appears to be widening. Initially discussions suggested privatisation would be limited to vehicle testing and training. However, in a recent presentation to union officials Tetlow and outsourcing consultant Stephen Tonks displayed a slide which showed every service delivery activity in the potential privatisation pot. All that was exempted were the shared services - those back-room functions such as HR and finance which are handled jointly for all Department for Transport agencies in Swansea.
"Cynically you wonder whether they are deliberately being provocative so that when they only privatise a small proportion we are supposed to be relieved," says Warden. The same kind of cynicism pervades the ranks regarding the planned job losses. In July Gordon Brown pledged to cut 104,000 civil service jobs, 500 of them are likely to go from Vosa. Management has told Vosa employees that the job losses are to cut all the fat from the organisation in order to defend it from the private sector. However, many are wondering if it isn't actually being prepared for market. "The losses will include roadside inspectors and not just back-room staff," says Millar. "It's driven by headcount targets, with no regard to the value those positions offer."
But is the unions' opposition to privatisation simply predictable - and essentially self-interested? After all, their remit has always been to protect members' jobs and conditions. "If Vosa services are privatised, Prospect will probably do very well at winning union recognition in whatever organisations take over," says Warden. "This isn't just defensiveness." As Paul Moon, general secretary of Prospect, says: "We may be losing the ability to protect the public and make the roads safe - and that's a very great concern." n
'Morale crisis' in Vosa
Vosa vehicle examiners have told Gwyneth Dunwoody that morale in the organisation is at an all-time low, a fact confirmed by a recent employee survey. One member said: "There's a morale crisis. How do they expect us to do this job when we get a £300 per year pay rise? I think everyone in the room would agree with me when I say that we are in the very pits of the earth here. "I'd like to see Gordon Brown spend a day with roadside enforcement and see what work is like in the real world." Dunwoody acknowledges that there are morale problems in the agency: "We've been very critical of the problems [within Vosa]. You cannot run a system well if your people are unhappy and [Vosa employees] are deeply unhappy."
One insider says: "The results of the staff survey were abysmal. There was no confidence in management. Vosa scored poorly on many key questions." A Vosa spokeswoman says: "Vosa has recently undertaken a staff survey the first since the agency was established. "Chief executive Stephen Tetlow has pledged to take action on the results, with leadership, proper personal development, better management of change and effective communications standing out as things Vosa needs to improve." Union officials say the morale of staff is undermined by the idea that they are being primed for privatisation.
Kevin Warden, Vehicle Inspectorate section secretary for the union, says: "We're being asked to transform our processes and ways of working as well as facing jobs cuts, while all the time consultants are assessing the possibilities of privatisation - morale is damaged by all of these things."
