|
apparently the computer system cost several hundred million and according to the guy who installed their terminal is actually about 8 years out of date using MS DOS and dot matrix printers, i kid you not also they were required to have broadband for speed but the system it communicates with is on a dial up system that disconnects between pages. it takes about 10 minutes to log an MOT pass and be issued with the certificate number as swansea will then send you your certificate. this part is only being done in practice by my mates place at the moment, they are still issuing certificates at present although swansea's database will now have all the details.i know he is fed up with it already...cheers...keo.
|
|
|
That sounds about right.When do they not have teething problems. I mean government..what makes me laugh they blame opperators of computer -- Steve
Governments don't build computers or write software. MoT computerisation is being handled wholly by the private sector - the government are not involved. The system is being designed and installed by SBS (part of the Siemens company, based in Munich). It should have started testing in December 2003, with full opration by May 2004 - its about a year behind schedule. A friend of mine is involved in the trials. SBS will be paid £10m when the first MoT's take place.....
The cost of the MoT, and any retest fee, is up to the garage. The government just set a maximum.
|
Governments may not write software etc.but THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE for the drawing up of the contractual rules and specifications but probably the person involved in speccing the system is probably now in charge of immigration at Home office as civil servants are generalists not specialists.
that is why ther are such cost overruns etc.
You can bet the private sector has better specialists and lawyers and does not lose
|
The rules seem to vary from one extreme to the other, depending on the garage. Last year it failed on headlight bulbs not of matching tint, and I had to pay the full price for a complete re-test.
This year, obviously at a different garage, I needed a new front suspension strut and a brake drum. When I took it back a week later he glanced under the car, saw the new parts, and then wrote out the certificate.
The "retest" took about 3 seconds and was free.
|
Governments may not write software etc.but THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE for the drawing up of the contractual rules and specifications but probably the person involved in speccing the system is probably now in charge of immigration at Home office as civil servants are generalists not specialists. that is why ther are such cost overruns etc. You can bet the private sector has better specialists and lawyers and does not lose>>
I cannot understand why there is this continual silly sniping at anything to do with government. I have spent most of my life working for various private-sector companies, as well as doing a few government-based jobs. The private sector make just as many cock-ups and waste just as much money, its just that they tend to keep them quiet.
Not all civil servants are 'generalists' - many are highly skilled specilists - think about TRL, DRA (RSRE as was), UKAEA and so on. Leave these people alone, they are mostly doing an excellent job for modest pay.
There is nothing wrong with the spec for MoT computerisation - it all seems very sensible indeed. Nor is there any problem with the contract. SBS don't get paid until the system works. There is no cost overrun that the taxpayer will have to cover. It has simply taken SBS much longer than they said it would because they haven't done a very good job, they didn't fully understand what they were taking on - and they will probably lose money on it.......
|
Leave these people alone, they are mostly doing an excellent job for modest pay.
Excuse me whilst I wipe a tear for the poor, hard up civil servants. Most/all are eligible to collect taxpayer backed, index-linked pensions that would be beyond the reach of most in the private sector.
|
Probably another example of "specification creep". Used to work for a turnkey contracting portion of Marconi and we were always VERY wary of software contracts with the UK government. The specification moves all the time (after all its not their money they are spending is it!) and then the contractor gets kicked for being late and over the original budget.
Name ONE government software project that has come in on time and to budget!
|
Name ONE government software project that has come in on time and to budget!
LOL! Name ANY software project that has come in on time and to budget!
|
>> Leave these people alone, they are mostly doing >> an excellent job for modest pay. Excuse me whilst I wipe a tear for the poor, hard up civil servants. Most/all are eligible to collect taxpayer backed, index-linked pensions that would be beyond the reach of most in the private sector.
There are plenty of civil service vacancies out there if you want them - if you really think the jobs are that good. Any of the government science & engineering departments will have vacancies for scientists, engineers, mathematicians etc. The vacancies are there because the pay is poor and suitably qualified people can easily earn more in the private sector. I know I wouldn't want to work on civil service pay, even with the pension (which, after all, is a form of deferred pay). Remember that most civil servants are on low pay (I think the average is something like £18,000) - only a relative few earn the big money. If I were to work, as a qualified chartered engineer, for a government agency then I would probably have to accept a 50% pay cut - not to mention much lower expenses and far fewer perks. No thanks!
|
There are plenty of civil service vacancies out there if you want them - if you really think the jobs are that good.
If I trusted HMG enough to think the retirement perks would still be in place by the time I hit sixty, I'd be sorely tempted.
I would probably have to accept a 50% pay cut - not to mention much lower expenses and far fewer perks. No thanks!
And if my experience at one of the agencies you named earlier was anything to go by, you'd also be doing far fewer hours (not necessarily contractual ones) with far less stress. Things may have changed in the intervening years, of course.
As for a 50% pay cut I think you're under selling yourself ;-) The govt's own figures for 2004
tinyurl.com/6ex8j
put median private sector pay at £18,304pa against £18,118pa in the public sector. I can't see Mr/Mrs Private Sector Average turning their <£200pa gross advantage into a 9k pension. Not unless they're prepared to work two or three hundred years.
|
>> If I trusted HMG enough to think the retirement perks would still be in place by the time I hit sixty, I'd be sorely tempted. >> I would probably have to accept a 50% pay cut - not to >> mention much lower expenses and far fewer perks. No thanks! And if my experience at one of the agencies you named earlier was anything to go by, you'd also be doing far fewer hours (not necessarily contractual ones) with far less stress.
Been there and got the T-shirt a few year's ago mate (TRL) - they can keep their jobs and their 'wonderful' pensions. Pay is absolutely lousy.
I work as a consultant to the motor industry in the UK and Europe. I don't find it especially stressful and work for about half the year (I try not to take on much work between May and September so that I can spend time with my children and take a couple of good holidays). The German companies pay well for my time (as do certain UK ones) and I probably earn at least 2x what I would earn as a senior engineer working full time for a government agency - even allowing for costs, deductions and insurances for sickness etc. I should be OK come retirement thanks to a couple of resonable 'private sector' pensions plus ownership of some properties in the UK and some land overseas.
Some public sector work is staggeringly low paid. Last year I received a mailing asking if I wanted to apply to work from home as an 'on line tutor' for Learndirect. I really could not believe the pay that they were offering - I wouldn't get out of my chair for that money. There must be some desperate people about. I have also just been asked (by an academic institution) to act as an external reviewer for the content of an engineering degree course. They told me how much I would be paid and I assumed it was an *hourly* figure - in fact it was the total (for about 20-30 hours work!). It probably works out at less than the minimum wage. I'm still doing it, but out of personal interest more than anything. Nobody works in those places for the money!
|
|
Moving ever so slightly back to the original topic, New Zealand has had an on-line system for the equivalent of MOT and Tax for some time. I recently had an accredited garage test one of my cars. When the (every six months) test was complete, he used a dial-up (I think) modem and logged into the government site. He entered the vehicle registration number, then added the necessary details, received a reference number and logged off. He filled out the test form with the reference, applied the sticker inside the windscreen, handed me the duplicate copy of the test form for my records. Here we show an MOT sticker with punched hole for the month, and a computer-printed registration (tax) label as well. I was then able to go to another vehicle testing station, or a post office, that had the facility to process vehicle registrations (tax). They accessed the car's record, saw that an MOT had been issued, and allowed me to pay the tax. I could have had it all done at the vehicle testing station, but I like to support the friendly and helpful small businessman. All testing facilities allow a free retest within 28 days. Apart from the obvious difference in scale, there seems to be no reason why such a system cannot be used in the UK.
|
|
|
|
