§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will make a statement on the future of collective pay bargaining in the Driving Standards Agency;
(2) if he will make it his policy that a Welsh language service will still be available following market testing of the driving test booking section of the Driving Standards Agency;
(3) if all bids for the contract for driving test booking work have taken account of the cost of possible redundancies;
(4) if he will make a statement on the applicability of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 to staff in all regional offices in the event of the contract for driving test bookings being won by EDS;
(5) how many staff within the Driving Standards Agency have entered into individual pay contracts with the agency.
§ Mr. NorrisThese are operational matters for the Driving Standards Agency. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.
Letters from L M. Manley to Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody, dated 16 January 1995:
The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your question requesting a statement on the future of collective pay bargaining in the Driving Standards Agency.I can confirm that the Driving Standards Agency is fully committed to the principles of collective pay bargaining both at the present and in future negotiations.The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your question about whether he will make it his policy that a Welsh language service will still be available following the market testing of the Driver Test Booking Section of the Driving Standards Agency.The Invitation to Tender for the driver test booking service specified that staff must have the skills necessary to provide the service required, which includes the provision of a Welsh language service.280WThe Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your question about whether all the bids for the contract of driver examiner booking have taken account of the cost of possible redundancies.The estimated cost of redundancies associated with each bid has been taken into account in the evaluation process.The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your question about whether TUPE will apply to staff in all regional offices in the event of the contract for the driver test booking being awarded to EDS.No decision has yet been taken on the result of the market test. If the contract were awarded to EDS Ltd., then TUPE would apply to those staff wholly or substantially engaged in the provision of the booking service.The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your question concerning the number of Driving Standards Agency staff who have entered into individual pay contracts with the Agency.No members of the Agency's staff have entered into individual contracts with the Agency. However at present 403 staff have signified their acceptance of the Agency's 1994 pay award.