The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has written to Department for Transport minister Jim Fitzpatrick calling for proposed fee increases for HGV testing to be scrapped.
A joint letter from the FTA and the Federation of Small Business attacks proposals for a 9% rise in the price of an annual HGV
test as well as an average 5% rise in the price of other VOSA services.
"The scale and timing of these increases are lost on our members, facing the worst trading conditions in a generation," the letter says.
It also attacks the increases as being "entirely the product" of internal funding rules and accounting policies resulting from a decision not to outsource VOSA services to the private sector in 2008.
The letter is part of the FTA's Every Penny Counts campaign which calls for a moratorium on not just the annual fee increases but on fuel duty rises and hikes in the vocational driving test fee.
To date, 34 cross-party MPs – including Lembit Opik and Ann Widdecombe – have signed an Early Day Motion to support the campaign.
Reed Business Information Limited.©2009
