MoT Review omission in latest government plans annoys the IAAF

1/26/2012 11:22 AM EST

Much to the irritation of trade and road safety bodies, including the IAAF, the much discussed MoT proposals are missing from the latest government plans, issued as a result of the Road Transport Red Tape Challenge.

IAAF chief executive Brian Spratt commented, “Although we received the statement on the outcomes of the recent Red Tape Challenge review before Christmas as promised, the fact that the much awaited MoT review has been left out is both surprising and frustrating. This delay is causing a great deal of disquiet across the motoring world; road safety interests, environmentalists, motorists, fleet operators and the trade in general all have grave concerns. There are also many businesses that have been forced to put their plans on hold, so this continuing delay is extremely disruptive.”

Mr. Spratt pointed out that the DfT’s documents issued as part of their Red Tape Challenge announcement showed that more than nine out of ten people who responded to the Government’s own “red-tape challenge” and who raised the MOT issue, opposed proposals to reduce testing frequency.

The Government consulted the public on vehicle safety and standards as part of its review of road transport regulations in May and June this year. More than three-quarters of respondents raised the issue of the MOT but less than 5% of those (and less than 3% of all respondents) supported changing frequency. The full results showed:

• 291 responses to red tape challenge on Vehicle safety and Standards
• 220 mentioned MOT frequency change (75.6 % of all responses)
• 203 of those who mentioned MOT were against the change (92.3%)
• 10 people were for the change (4.5%)
• 7 people mentioned MOT but didn’t say whether they were for or against a change

“We really need to get the MoT frequency question settled, it’s dragged on for far too long, probably because the government doesn’t know how to get itself out of the ridiculous position it finds itself in,” concluded Mr.Spratt.

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