Posted by John Wallis on April 17, 2005, 5:14 pm, in reply to "Re: Backup?"
Thanks Steve! You tend to think you're on your own with problems like this but this is not the case as the letter below will clarify.
I'm a great believer in technology and of course this is the way to go. But after all these years of planning you would have thought it would be a bit better than this. Having said that Siemens set up a factory in Tyneside pulled in lots of people then pulled the plug when it didn't work. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised.
My gut feeling here will be that many small testing stations will say *uck this I've had enough which will put more pressure on the rest of the country. I feel testing is about to go through a big change and possibly a big price increase to keep the playing field level.
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Computerisation - continued from front page
To: Mr Stephen Tetlow, Chief Executive, Vehicle & Operator Services Agency Mr Stephen Hickey, Director General, Driver Vehicle Operator Group, Department for Transport
Following a meeting on Tuesday 12th April 2005 of the MOT Trade Forum consisting of the majority of trade bodies representing the interests of in excess of 10,000 MOT Testing Stations, it was unanimously agreed that we should urgently contact you regarding the looming disaster which will happen if you proceed with the commencement and roll out as planned of MOT computerisation next Monday 18th April 2005.
All members agree with the serious concerns already widely expressed to you over the last few weeks. We have no confidence at all in Siemens’ ability to deliver computerisation of the MOT Test. The MOT trade is concerned that Siemens’ computerisation of the MOT, is, in its entirety seriously flawed. Experience from the latest small scale trial has also highlighted that both software and hardware are unreliable in operation with cumbersome and unnecessarily time consuming procedures both regarding normal operations and fall back provisions in the event of system failure.
Siemens’ training for Testing Stations staff is inadequate and the ‘help line’ is unable to cope both in terms of response time and quality of service. MOT Trade Forum members unanimously believe that the onset of live computerised MOT Testing should not be commenced next Monday as planned and should be postponed until it is “…fully tested and ready…” as repeatedly stated by Senior officials both from VOSA and the Department for Transport. MOT computerisation should not be activated until a reliable, efficient and robust system is in place. This is not currently the case!
In the light of our unanimous concerns about the dire situation regarding another Government failure to deliver a robust and reliable national computerised scheme, we demand that both on behalf of the MOT Trade and the motoring public that the proposed activation next Monday be deferred until all the problems associated with computerisation of the MOT are fully resolved.
The MOT Trade is very enthusiastic about installing an efficient and effective computerised MOT Testing system but are very disappointed at all the problems and difficulties encountered with the system currently proposed. The MOT Trade are keen to offer every help and assistance to Government in resolving problems associated with MOT computerisation.
In view of the urgency and short time scale involved, this letter will be generally delivered to national news associations and news networks.