Newslink January 2022

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were ready to go, only thing left to do
now was go for dinner and then ensure
that nothing had been missed
Sunday arrived, breakfast was taken,
then me and the committee proceeded to
the conference room, delegates had
started to arrive well before the official
opening time. It appeared that they were
as eager as we were to get back into the
groove.
Doors were opened, delegates signed
in, badges given and tables started to fill.
Tea and coffee were available to all on
arrival, and we were well looked after by
Nicole from the hotel who was an
absolute star throughout the proceedings.
She looked after our every need, and we
all felt that she went above and beyond
to ensure that we had everything we
needed.
The Conference starts ...
At 9.30am I opened the conference by
welcoming everyone in attendance stating
that it was terrific to see a lot of well-kent
faces and a lot of new ones, with a
special mention to Mike Yeomans, the
MSA GB North East chair, who had
travelled up from East Yorkshire to join
us. There was also a request that went
with the times, for all to remember to
wear their facemasks!
The first speaker was our stand-in from
Police Scotland, Constable Keith
Sutherland. He gave an excellent talk on
electric vehicles, outlining what he saw
as the advantage that electric vehicles
will bring as well as some of the
disadvantages. He told us that during the
recent COP 26 summit in Glasgow he
had been seconded to provide security
cover, as had many officers from around
the UK.
A lot of delegates attending COP 26
MSA GB Chairman
Peter Harvey presents
DVSA’s John Sheridan
with a gift to mark his
impending retirement
stayed at Gleneagles and electric vehicles
were used to transport them to the site in
Glasgow. However, there weren’t enough
charging points in Gleneagles so diesel
generators were brought in to recharge
them. This did provoke a big laugh in the
room.
Harley Davidson had supplied 12
electric police bikes for escort duty, which
looked absolutely terrific, but only had a
range of around 12 miles... ooops!
On finishing Keith answered a good few
questions before he had to head back to
Blairgowrie.
Our sponsors then got the opportunity
to talk about their products. First up was
Michael Carr of Go-Roadie, who was
known to a lot of the delegates. He
informed us of the products they had to
offer which was designed to help and
assist ADIs in the day-to-day running of
their business and offered a discount to
members.
Bob Morton from Client Centred
Learning was next. Bob is an old friend of
the STS, and we were pleased to
welcome him back. He gave an excellent
talk relating to the Standards Check and
Part 3 Training. It was all extremely
informative and had a good question and
answer session at the end.
The Scottish AGM was held next and
as I gave my report, including informing
everyone that I would be standing down
as Chairman. Having been a member of
the Scottish Committee since 1994 I
have been extremely lucky to have met
some terrific people through MSA GB; Ian
Scoular, John Myers and Don McTaggart
to name a few. I had also been very
fortunate to have met and got to know
Peter Harvey MBE and his wife, Jean, as
well as all the rest of the current
committee. They have been wonderful to
have worked with over the past years and
I am sure that Steven Porter, Bryan
Phillips and the rest of the team will do a
wonderful job going forward.
I was presented with an extremely nice,
engraved pewter mug and a bottle of gin
from the National Chairman on behalf of
the committee and I was very grateful for
this presentation.
At the end of the AGM everyone retired
for lunch, which I have to say was very
nice.
On resuming in the afternoon, it was
the turn of the DVSA to regale us with
news from the Citadel in Nottingham.
Loveday Ryder was first to speak, and
she came across very well. She put her
own spin on everything and was not
afraid to answer questions that were
thrown at her from the delegates.
Everyone felt that maybe this CEO has
listened to ADIs and would respect their
input.
Willie Hamilton, senior DVSA official in
Scotland gave us all an insight into how
he expects the DVSA to be working in
Scotland as, hopefully, the pandemic
subsides. Willie took a good few
questions from the audience.
John Sheridan was next. He’s always
gone down well at our events and did so
again as he outlined the hopes and
aspirations of the DVSA, reiterating what
Loveday had said earlier. He hopes that
the DVSA could move forward quickly
from all of the problems it had
encountered in 2020 and ‘21. He also
informed the delegates that he would be
retiring this year.
Loveday, John and Willie then fielded
questions from the floor, and I don’t think
that they deflected any.
Peter then surprised John with a gift,
which he had already cleared with his
boss, on his upcoming retirement. I think
that in all the times that I have seen John
this was the first time he was totally
speechless. He did, however, quickly
regain his ability to talk and thanked
Peter, the Scottish committee and
everyone present for the gift.
Next, we had the star of the show,
Peter Harvey MBE, who went on to tell
everyone what will, what might and what
should be happening to our industry.
He went through a complete question
and answer selection with the delegates
which as usual was very informative and
gave everyone food for thought.
The conference was closed by the new
chairman for MSA GB Scotland, Steven
Porter, who wished everyone a safe
journey home, a very Merry Christmas and
a happy and prosperous New Year.
NEWSLINK n JANUARY 2022
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