§ Mr. Amessasked the Secretary of State for Transport what his plans are to improve the ability of his Driver Testing and Training Organisation to respond quickly and cost effectively to demand for driving tests.
§ Mr. MooreFrom 1 April 1987 the Driver Testing and Training Organisation will be treated as a central Government trading body for the purposes of public expenditure and national accounting. This arrangement means that direct current expenditure by DTT will no longer count as public expenditure or against the gross running cost limits of the Department on the Transport Services and Central Administration Vote (VIII. 2.) Similarly, its fee receipts will no longer be an offset against public expenditure totals. In future, DTT's expenditure (including an assessed charge for general support still provided from the Department of Transport) and the associated fee receipts, will be brought to account on the non-cash limited Transport Industries Vote (VIII. 3).
The new arrangement will enable DTT to respond more quickly than in the past to changes in demand for tests and therefore to improve the service to the public. DTT's activities will be subject to unit cost targets consistent with efficient and effective use of resources and the recovery of its costs in fees.
Accordingly the costs and fee income of the DTT organisation are omitted from this year's public expenditure White Paper, published today. I shall arrange for DTT to produce an annual report and accounts after each financial year, which will be laid in the House of Commons Library.