BusinessCar's campaign to ensure all Government agencies and departments are properly checking employees' driving licences has again gathered pace, with senior Labour MP Stephen Ladyman pledging to write to each department explaining the importance of the checks and how they should be carrying them out.

Ladyman posted parliamentary questions late last year regarding the issue of licence checking after BusinessCar found wild discrepancies in the quality of checking across Government bodies (see BusinessCar 9 January 2010).

The former transport minister met with BusinessCar and ACFO's chairman Julie Jenner and senior member Nigel Grainger at Westminster to discuss the next step, where ACFO agreed to produce a best practice guide that Dr Ladyman could provide to the departments. "We don't want to scare people but we need to establish that they do have a duty of care to their employees and that there are clear procedures," he said.

During the meeting, Ladyman promised to write to each minister that responded to the parliamentary question, explaining the reasons why their response was below acceptable standards, and will also be contacting the Cabinet Office, the one responsible for standards in Government, to ask if it would be willing to set best practice guidelines for all departments.

"We were delighted with the positive response we received from Dr Ladyman during the second meeting and would like to thank him for his continued support," said Jenner.

Following BusinessCar's analysis of the responses to the parliamentary questions at the beginning of this year, fleet risk expert Grainger said: "Based on these answers, some departments could face a corporate manslaughter prosecution should a fatality occur."

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