Paying For Damage To Govt. Vehicles

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30763, 29 May 1965, Page 19

Paying For Damage To Govt. Vehicles

(From Our Parllomentorv Reporter)

WELLINGTON, May 28

The Controller and Auditor-General (Mr A. D. Burns) should make wider use of his powers to inflict penalties in cases where Government motor-vehicles are damaged, according to the Parliamentary Public Expenditure Committee’s report tabled in Parliament

Mr Burns has power to charge the officers concerned with the full amount of the damage to a vehicle. The committee's report said Mr Burns should ignore any possible action the State Services Commission was likely to take.

The commission was finding it difficult to take effective action, because its penalties were cut to nominal sums on appeal, and senior departmental officers were reluctant to inflict any additional penalty when charges had been made against drivers. Surcharges by the Controller, nevertheless, could be and were reduced by the Minister of Finance.

All departments should compile statistics on their motor accidents, to be coordinated by the commission, said the committee. Drivers should be issued with a uniform set of instructions on the prevention of accidents and possible penalties when accidents were their fault. In the Post Office, the committee learned, the yearly accident rate involved almost half of all its vehicles and in about half of such cases, the departmental driver was at fault.