Motor Vehicles (Tests) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020

Lord Carrington of Fulham Excerpts

Wednesday 13th May 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Carrington of Fulham (Con)]

My Lords, I declare my interests as in the register.

We understand perfectly the reasons for these regulations. At this time, it is important that we remove as many burdens from people as possible and ensure that no one is forced into contact with others if it can be avoided. However, I wish to point out a couple of problems. I support the regulations but we will need to get MoT stations back to normal operation as soon as possible.

My first point concerns safety. It goes without saying that maintaining mechanical and emissions standards for motor vehicles is safety-critical for all road users and for reducing air pollution, which has been one of the few benefits of the present crisis. MoT testing stations play a vital part in this. They are not there to catch the crook or wide boy who wants to drive unsafe vehicles on the road, although they have a part to play here. The overwhelming majority of vehicles that fail their MoT do so because they have faults that their owners were unaware of. For instance, a six-month delay in getting an MoT test means that some faults, for example in brakes that were fine 18 months before at the last test, are now dangerous. The MoT test is set up to ensure that the brake pads are thick enough to last for 12 months of normal usage of that vehicle— 18 months may remove that safety margin.

The second issue concerns the nature of MoT stations themselves. Outside Northern Ireland, they are overwhelmingly small businesses set up as small independent garages specialising in MoTs. They are sometimes part of repair garages, because the repair garage is fed from the work generated by the MoT testing. If you find that your car has failed the MoT on something minor such as a faulty brake light, it is often convenient for the vehicle owner to get a quote from the garage doing the MoT and get the MoT done quickly on the spot if the price is right.

By delaying MoTs for six months, we take out six months cash flow from these small businesses; many will not survive, regardless of government loans and furlough schemes. This could lead to a shortage of MoT stations in future, which are not easily replaced because of the technical skills required to carry out MoTs and the licensing to ensure that they are carried out correctly. While this regulation solves our pressing problems at this time, the shorter the time that MoTs are delayed the better, for the sake of us all and of the small businesses involved.