Spend 5 minutes now to save your job

January 20, 2023

The DVSAs public consultation on ‘the future of the MOT’ is officially open. Now is our moment to unite against the 4:2:2 proposal and fight for the changes we want to see in the MOT scheme. Choosing inaction at this point may well lead to job losses and business closures. Everyone is welcome to respond to the consultation digitally. If you work in the industry, taking action is your duty. We want to help you as much as possible, so here is everything we know about the consultation so far. 

The consultation is split into sections leaving you to decide how deep you go. The first section takes less than five minutes to complete. This section ends with a question asking whether you want to “continue answering the consultation research questions?” or “go to the final comments section?”. Either choice is perfectly valid. If you choose the shorter route, your answers will still count among the consultation results. If you decide to go on and complete the rest of the consultation paper, you can expect the full survey to take an additional 45 minutes. The final day to complete the consultation has been extended to the 22nd March 2023. You can save your progress and come back later to complete and submit your answers. 

You can complete the online consultation here.

What is the consultation on?

HAVE YOUR SAY BEFORE ITS TO LATE .GOV MOT CONSULTATION – FEB 23 from MOT Juice on Vimeo.

In the online consultation survey, the DVSA are interested in views and experience of the MOT test and, in particular: 

> the date when a first MOT is needed 

> particulate number testing for diesel vehicles 

> how often vehicles should have an MOT test 

> the content of MOT tests 

> costs and fees  

> the service that motorists receive from MOT testing stations 

> longer-term changes needed in light of technological development  

If you’re interested in what kind of questions the consultation contains, check out the list of highlights extracted directly from the live survey. You can expect the rest of the questions to extend upon these same themes. 

Initial questions 

• Are you responding: on behalf of an organisation? 
• What is the size of your organisation? 
• Does your company carry out MOT testing? 
• Is your organisation a business requiring fleet vehicles? 
• In your view, should the date of the first MOT: Remain at 3 years? Move from 3-4 years? Move from 3-5 years? Why? 
• Do you believe that the PN approach is correct or incorrect? 

Complete the initial survey as a duty to your industry

These are all the questions that make up the initial consultation section. Just taking five minutes out of your day to complete this initial first section would be very valuable for yourself and the industry at large. If you choose to continue to the longer consultation survey, you can expect to find more questions like the below: 

Vehicle MOT testing questions

• What, in your view, are the advantages of the current system of requiring vehicles to undergo an annual MOT test? Why? 
• In your view, should MOT tests for cars be required: Annually from three years? Every two years from three years? Every two years from three to ten years with an annual test after that? Why? 
• What, if any, effect do you think that any move to less frequent MOTs could have? 
• What, if any, measures should we, in your view, introduce to mitigate the risks of less frequent MOT testing? 
• How does the MOT (or other roadworthiness testing) need to change to accommodate the differences between electric and hybrid vehicles and traditional internal combustion engine vehicles? 
• In your view, what, if anything, should be done to improve MOT test quality? 
• What, if any, ideas do you have about more MOT data that could be shared and what benefits it may bring? 

Testing content questions

• What, if any, changes do you think should be made to elements of the MOT test for cars, motorbikes and vans? 
• In your view, should we use the MOT to collect fuel and energy consumption data on cars and vans? 
• Should, in your view, hybrid vehicles be included within scope of MOT emissions testing in the future? Why? 
• In your view, should we, in the future, explore options for assessing the health of electric vehicle-specific components (for example, battery, motor and so on)? 

Services to garages questions

• Do you think the current approach to training and assessment for MOT testers works as well as it should? How can it be improved? 
• Do you think the approach and level of enforcement is right for keeping the MOT industry standards where they should be? How can it be improved? 
• What, if any, other ways can DVSA support garages that carry out MOT testing? 

Vehicle crime and vehicle data integrity questions 

• Do you believe that any apparent mismatches between the government licensing record for a vehicle and the vehicle presented for an MOT test should be dealt with before an MOT test is carried out? 
• Do you believe that fraud in the MOT system is a problem? 

MOT compliance questions

• Do you think garages should, in the future, be required to have equipment that automatically collects MOT test data, for instance, on brakes condition and photographs of the test? 
• Do you think that the penalty levels for wrongdoing of MOT testing stations should be more severe? 
• Do you think that, when MOTs have been found to be done incorrectly, DVSA should be able to correct the record, including revoking MOTs incorrectly issued? 

Investment in MOT testing stations questions

• Do you think that the current regime encourages and facilitates investment in MOT testing stations? 
• How, in your view, might any negative effect on investment in MOT testing stations caused by reductions in MOT frequency be mitigated? 
• Longer term  
• What alternatives, if any, do you suggest to assure roadworthiness of cars, vans, motorbikes that could replace or supplement the MOT? 
• Do you think that a vehicle should fail an MOT if an ADAS safety feature, such as Advanced Emergency Braking (AEB), is indicated as malfunctioning by the vehicle? 
• If such a point of time occurred, do you believe that the periodic inspection of a vehicle would still be necessary? 
• Do you think automated systems could enable all safety critical systems and components to be checked?

Conclusion 

I hope these extracts have given you helpful insight into what to expect from the consultation survey. You can complete the online consultation now here. If you need any help or advice on how to complete the survey please get in touch with MOT Juice or watch this brief explainer video. Everyone at MOT Juice and our sister company CCM Garages have already submitted our responses. Join us now, and take a few minutes out of your day to protect our industry!

Other ways to take action include signing these petitions adding weight to various key aspects of the consultation.

Set a single standard price for the MOT test. Sign petition here.

Require emissions testing for all hybrids. Sign petition here.

Increase weight limit for Class 7 vehicles. Sign petition here.

It only takes a minute to take action and every signature counts.