The inaugural FORS Governance and Standards Advisory Group (GSAG) meeting has taken place.

Leading fleet operators, trade associations and public authority representatives make up the group, which has been established by FORS to ensure that the standards remain relevant to industry needs, protect the integrity and reputation of the scheme and embed FORS across the UK as the single national standard.

Topics on the agenda included the needs of operators, the development of the standard and the key objective of raising professional standards. The focus of the Group is to promote road safety, improve professional standards and enhance the image of our industry.

The Group was firmly in favour of there being one national scheme focussing on professional standards and operational effectiveness. John Bourn, Senior Specialist Transport Planner, North East Combined Authority, said: ‘We have been championing FORS in our region since 2012 and we look forward to further developing the scheme and would encourage other local authorities to get on board.’ With the scheme being rolled out nationally this is an important opportunity to increase understanding of the benefits of FORS nationwide for both contract specifiers and fleet operators.

The Group were informed of the latest numbers which show a significant recent increase with accredited operators passing the 3,000 mark representing over 200,000 vehicles.

GSAG, which will meet on a quarterly basis, will act as the champion for the award-winning scheme. The Group will protect, safeguard and enhance the scheme as well as ensure it remains relevant to the needs of fleet operators, contract specifiers and the general public.