Fate of NZTA hangs in the balance as Govt launches wide ranging investigation
Saturday, 24 November 2018
The future of the New Zealand Transport agency and senior executives hangs in the balance as the Government brings in a sweeping review.
The laissez faire regime has been overturned - Transport Minister Phil Twyford says the review covers everything the agency is in charge of, including driver testing, licenses, freight licences, warrants of fitness, registration, heavy vehicle permits, speed management, rail safety, 'and any other relevant statutory functions'.
It comes after agency chief executive Fergus Gammie publicly confessed a raft of public safety failures in recent weeks and months. Senior compliance managers were shunted aside and replaced by lawyers, and board chairman Stiassny took over communications.
Failures ranged from cracked truck and trailer tow bars and certifiers being suspended, to dodgy warrants of fitness leading to a death, and the agency alerting people in Dargaville to get their cars re-checked at its expense.
**READ MORE:
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* NZTA told to start handing out red cards on WOFs after fatal crash
* Wrongly warranted car crashes causing death, NZTA shares blame
* Constant restructuring gutted NZTA of experienced staff, says Road Transport Association**
Twyford said the review wil be headed by the Ministry of Transport and focus on the backlog of 850 regulatory compliance cases concerning vehicle certifiers, training course providers, licensing agents, road transport operators and drivers.
'The number of businesses and people affected by the performance issues is significant,' Twyford said.
These business include well known entities such as AA which carry out driver and car testing, VTNZ, and the Optimus group of companies which imports, certifies, tests, warrants and sell vehicles.
Law firm Meredith Connell has taken over compliance from senior agency managers and will identify the underlying causes of the performance failures.
The catalyst for Twyford's announcement was the discovery the Dargaville Diesel Specialists vehicle certifier issued a WOF to a vehicle in which William Ball, 65, was a passenger in the front seat of and was injured in the crash and died 26 days later.
Police found that Ball's seatbelt was in frayed condition and had failed to function properly.
It was the latest incident involving Dargaville Diesel Specialists after agency officers saw the company's staff issuing warrants without properly inspecting vehicles, including seatbelts.
Objectives of Twyford's review are to form a clear assessment of whether there are systemic deficiencies within the agency's regulatory capability and function, and to what extent they contributed to the recent failures.
The reviewers will make recommendations on improvements to address deficiencies, accountability, and reasurance over public safety.
The review is being undertaken under section 132 of the Crown Entities Act 2004, and requires the transport agency to co-operate.
It will consider if new laws are necessary and cover governance, leadership, operational policy and practice, regulatory intelligence, people capability and capacity, and the balance of education, engagement and enforcement.
It will also look at how the agency works with other regulators.
Twyford's ministry is also looking at whether the regulatory framework for the transport system is fit-for-purpose.
The ministry can also seek views of external parties.
The review is intended to produce its findings and recommendations by March 2019.