§ John McDonnellTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the Traffic Area Network's financial position was at the point of merger with the former Vehicle Inspectorate; and whether balances were transferred to the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency. [173888]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe financial position of the Traffic Area Network at the point of merger was contained within the Trading Fund Order which brought the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency into being—the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency Trading Order 2003 (SI 2003 No. 942). The balances transferred into the newly-formed VOSA, based on estimated valuations at that time, were as follows:
£ million Net Assets 58.2 Net Liabilities 42.6
§ John McDonnellTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been spent on the SchlumbergerSema contract in the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency, broken down by main expenditure category. [173892]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe SchlumbergerSema IT Business has been purchased by Atos Origin. The original contract came into effect on 1 January 2003. The expenditure for the financial year 2002–03 was £3.4 million and the estimated expenditure for the financial year 2003–04 is £14.2 million.
The detailed analysis of this cost is commercial in confidence.
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§ John McDonnellTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what impact on(a) services and (b) procedures of the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency the award of the contract to SchlumbergerSema has had. [173893]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe strategic partnership contract between Atos Origin (formerly SchlumbergerSema) and VOSA commenced in January 2003.
The 10-year relationship involves design, build and implementation of a series of integrated business solutions that will have a significant impact on VOSA's business and the quality of services it provides to its customers.
Early stages include enhancements to project and programme management and significant enhancement to the quality of the IT platform. This will allow development of better, more timely data for VOSA examiners and enable the introduction of new EU initiatives such as Digital Tachographs. This will in turn improve the targeting of likely offenders allowing law-abiding Operators to go about their business with less interference.
Future plans include developments of a commercial customer portal bringing together current DVO e-services for commercial customer along with a range of new 'e' enabled services, including e-test bookings and e-payments.