IOM Extra driving lessons for posties

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POSTMEN are being given advanced driver training by a retired traffic officer.

The move has been described by one MHK an ‘outrageous waste of money’ at a time when government was having to make spending cuts and when postal workers have voted for strike action over pay.

Tynwald was told that the Post Office is to spend just under £9,000 providing a driver training programme for its 120 staff who drive postal vehicles.

Tynwald was told the training would cover defensive and economical driving and would be provided by a retired police driving instructor.

iomtoday has learned that the instructor is Duncan Livingstone, who is the nephew of Post Office chairman Alan Crowe MLC.

Mr Crowe justified the move in Tynwald, insisting it would mitigate ‘a clear health and safety risk’ and provide commercial benefits by reducing on-going vehicle insurance, repair and fuel costs.

Speaking to iomtoday, he confirmed that Mr Livingstone was his nephew but insisted he had no involvement in the selection process.

He said: ‘I had absolutely no involvement in the awarding of this contract either before, during or afterwards. I would not like to think that there is any implication that would be seen as favouritism. That would be absolutely not true at all.’

In Tynwald, he said the Post Office spend £170,000 on fuel annually, £100,000 on labour and parts and £33,000 on insurance, adding up to £303,000.

‘We only have to reduce these costs by 6 per cent to repay this investment in one year,’ he told the court.

But Bill Henderson MHK (Douglas North) told iomtoday: ‘That’s the biggest load of old hogwash.

‘This is a completely outrageous waste of public funds that flies in the face of austerity cuts. They are supposed to be making efficiency savings and refuse to give a pay increase for posties.’

Mr Crowe told Tynwald: ‘The Post Office is very aware of its responsibilities to both its staff and the public at large. It operates a large fleet of vehicles, over 100, which travel throughout the island daily.

‘Driving is a skill and, like other skills, performance can be improved with ongoing development. This is especially important where there is a clear health and safety risk, such as in this case.

‘I believe that by supporting our staff in this way, the Post Office is demonstrating itself to be a responsible employer with a positive attitude to recognising and seeking to mitigate risk where appropriate.’

Mr Crowe said the retired police officer who was providing the training had submitted the lowest quote and the process had been carried according to Treasury’s financial regulations.

Kirk Michael-based Mr Livingstone, who retired from the Manx Constabulary in August last year after more than 30 years’ service, said the training for postal workers began three weeks ago and took place one day a week.

‘It might make you a bit safer and reduce damage and running costs by driving a little bit more economically.’

He added: ‘I was asked to submit a tender which I submitted. My bid was obviously successful.’

In Tynwald, Mr Crowe confirmed that the Post Office had replaced 21 vehicles last year at a cost of £221,000. No decision had been made on how many would be replaced this year although normally it would seek to replace about one fifth of the 103-strong fleet each year.

The court heard that the electric post van had been taken out of service because it had frequent bouts of unreliability.

‘It’s more suitable in the summer,’ Mr Crowe told Tynwald.