Garry Graham, Prospect deputy general secretary, responding to
the government's announcement about changes to Smart Motorways,
said:
“The government review into Smart and All Lanes Running (ALR)
motorways makes some important recommendations, in particular the
upgrade and introduction of new technology to make them safer.
What it doesn’t address is the fact that we simply do not have
enough traffic officers or regional operating centre (ROC)
operators to make the system work.
“Technology can identify breakdowns but you need an operator in
an ROC to spot the problem, and then you need traffic officers to
resolve it. Numbers of both are in decline and without a marked
boost in overall funding and in baseline pay, they will continue
to do so.
“The review also falls short on addressing the unsafe nature of
managing an incident on ALR motorway. Incursions into closed
lanes have gone up significantly since the introduction of ALR
motorways, putting traffic officers at risk.”
Ends
Notes to editors
Traffic officer numbers
|
Region On Road Traffic Officers
|
2016 FTE
|
2017 FTE
|
2018 FTE
|
2019 FTE
|
2020 FTE
|
|
Yorkshire & North East
|
88
|
87
|
96
|
111
|
108
|
|
North West
|
159
|
162
|
182
|
205
|
196
|
|
East Midlands
|
60
|
69
|
78
|
78
|
86
|
|
West Midlands
|
107
|
104
|
121
|
126
|
119
|
|
South West
|
90
|
86
|
85
|
96
|
92
|
|
South East
|
183
|
174
|
171
|
163
|
162
|
|
East
|
179
|
167
|
150
|
180
|
166
|
|
Total FTEs
|
864
|
850
|
884
|
958
|
929
|
(This data was provided in answer to a Written
Parliamentary Question submitted on 24 Nov 2020)
