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Lord Kilclooney: MoT testing in Northern Ireland is now in disarray; that is why this order has been brought before the Committee. We all recognise that it is in disarray mainly because of the strike; therefore the Government are right to bring forward the order. I am only sorry that it was not brought forward earlier.
My one question relates to the term "temporary exemptions". How long does a temporary exemption last—one month, one year? That has not been spelt out.
I can never understand why Northern Ireland has a different MoT testing system from the one in the rest of the United Kingdom. Obviously, it should be in private hands. The Government should consider giving those currently employed in MoT centres the opportunity to buy out the system so that it is privatised from here on, leaving us in the same position as England, Scotland and Wales.
Since there is disarray in MoT testing with the result that we need temporary exemptions, now that there is to be a planning services strike, can we get temporary exemptions from obtaining planning permission?
Lord Lyell: The Minister in another place mentioned that 90,000—the noble Lord, Lord Maginnis, referred to 87,000—cases were waiting, as reported at column 12 of Hansard. Can the noble Baroness indicate what proportion it is of all
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annual testing, should it be going on, and how long will it take to clear the backlog? My noble friend Lord Glentoran thought that it would take approximately six months.
Earlier in her speech in another place the Minister said that 5,700 driving tests had been cancelled. I presume that they were cancelled because of this dispute, although it is probably not relevant to the order.
I agree with what many Members of the Committee said concerning drivers being stopped. Whether or not they have had an accident, it could be difficult if they do not have the relevant certificate or piece of paper—even if the insurance and so forth is in order. When drivers come to Great Britain, I suspect that they will generally be all right, but it could be extremely difficult if they go abroad.
That said, this seems to be the best and quickest way to ensure that Northern Ireland motorists drive safely and are able to keep death off the road. However, it is interesting that on average 22 per cent of vehicles fail the MoT; so there are approximately 20,000 people still on the road who perhaps should not be. I am very grateful to the noble Baroness for her patience.
Baroness Amos: I shall try to address the points raised in the debate. The noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, asked when we propose to stop issuing certificates of temporary exemption. In the current climate of industrial action, the period of time during which certificates will be issued will depend on how long the dispute continues. They are seen as a tool for enabling the department to manage the workload when the strike comes to an end. We intend to continue using temporary exemptions until the waiting time has returned to an acceptable level. In future, they will be a useful tool for dealing with emergency situations such as fire or a failure in the supply of essential services. A temporary exemption can last for any period up to a maximum of six months.
As regards hauliers maintaining their vehicles to the same standard, there will be no change to the arrangements for maintaining vehicles. The exemptions affect only testing. That applies also to the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Maginnis, with whom I do not agree. The majority of us who have a car that requires an MoT do not wait until after the MoT to determine whether our vehicle needs work on it, but will have a regular maintenance regime with a garage to ensure that the vehicle is kept roadworthy. We see that as an individual responsibility.
Of course, there is the annual testing regime for an MoT, but it is important to recognise that roadworthiness is the responsibility of the individual. It is not the responsibility of the state. I accept that having to get an MoT concentrates the mind, but I do not agree with the noble Lord that the majority of people would not keep their cars in good condition. I
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think that the opposite is true. A car is an investment. It is in the individual's interests to keep it in a roadworthy condition.
Lord Glentoran: My experience of going through an MoT test annually in Spain is that there are specific regulations for which specific equipment is needed. For example, a gauge can be obtained that will indicate when a tyre is illegal. As regards the steering wheel an inch's play or whatever is allowed, but, again, there is a specific piece of measuring equipment that will indicate whether it is legal. It is the same for the light settings, handbrake, and so forth.
The average driver will not be aware of that sort of detail. Although I have spent my life with vehicles and was in charge of a great number at one time, I have still taken a vehicle for an MoT and been told that one of my tyres needs changing. That sort of detail will not be available. People will be driving "illegally".
Baroness Amos: I take that point, but I also recognise that most individuals have some kind of service regime for their cars. The majority of garages are able to give that kind of information. I am not saying that there is not an issue here that needs to be addressed. All I am saying is that there is a degree of responsibility that rests with individuals with respect to roadworthiness that we need to accept.
Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: With the greatest respect, the Minister must live in a different world from the one in which I live. The majority of people who service their vehicles regularly are those who have vehicles that are less than three years old—people who have new vehicles and want to keep them in good order. The older the vehicle is, the less it is serviced, for the simple reason that it becomes a very costly operation.
In Northern Ireland—and I am sure that it is the same in other places—we see vehicles driven until they literally fall apart on the side of the road and are abandoned there. Young people then pick them up and use them as runabouts. It would be interesting for Members of the Committee to know the number of accidents caused by uninsured, unlicensed drivers running about with those broken-down abandoned cars. That is the sequence of my experience of motor cars in Northern Ireland. I hope that the Minister takes my point seriously.
Baroness Amos: The noble Lord has entirely made my point for me. He referred to uninsured, unlicensed drivers; even with an MoT regime, they do not go and get their cars MoTed, because they are driving without insurance, licences and MoTs. That is a completely different group of people to the one that I hope we are talking about—the majority of individuals, who want to operate within the law. We have a specific problem that we need to address in relation to the strike, so I believe that the noble Lord, Lord Maginnis, has just made my point for me.
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I go back to the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, who was concerned about the possibility of increased costs for hauling. The proposed order would not impose additional costs on the haulage industry. On the issue of insurance, which many Members of the Committee mentioned, we have advised motorists to check with their insurance provider that having a temporary exemption rather than a vehicle test certificate does not invalidate their insurance policy. The practice varies between insurance companies. The insurance policies require vehicles to be roadworthy, and some companies use the test certificate as a guarantee of that. But they do not all do that, so it is important for motorists to check with individual companies—and the Police Service of Northern Ireland has an awareness-raising campaign in that regard.
I take the point raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Harris, that the temporary exemptions appear to fly in the face of what we are trying to do about road safety. I cannot pretend that temporary exemptions are an adequate replacement for the normal regime of vehicle testing and roadside enforcement. But I remind the noble Baroness and the rest of the Committee that temporary exemptions are meant to be a short-term measure, as the name implies, designed to meet the exigencies of a particularly difficult situation that is adversely affecting businesses and ordinary motorists. In order to maintain the focus on road safety and ensure that motorists are fully aware of their responsibilities, we are stepping up publicity in that regard. In issuing the temporary exemptions, we shall try to ensure that those who must go abroad or have a particular need are given a degree of priority when the tests restart. A temporary exemption order will allow a vehicle to be driven legally on the road and
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to be registered and taxed. They do not remove the requirement for motorists to keep their vehicles in a roadworthy condition.
On the issue raised by the noble Lord, Lord Maginnis, of whether the process might be contracted out, that has been considered many times. Each time it has been considered, the conclusion has been that the existing system best meets the needs of the people of Northern Ireland. Of course, the approach in Great Britain has much to commend it, but there is an issue of consistency. Many garages in England and Wales do only six MoT tests a week, and concerns have been raised that the way in which the tests are carried out by individual garages means that a degree of inconsistency is creeping into the system. On the other hand, in Northern Ireland, which has been widely regarded as a model of best practice, the fact that the tests are concentrated means that independence, consistency and objectivity are at the heart of the system. The proposals advanced by the noble Lord have been considered on many occasions.
Temporary exemptions represent a helpful contingency for the long term but obviously the strike is creating a particularly difficult situation, which is why the backlog is at such a high level.
The noble Lord, Lord Maginnis, mentioned the efficiency of vehicle testing with the new equipment. I understand that tests now take roughly the same amount of time as they did before, but we hope that, as a result of the introduction of the new equipment and the upgrading, the new system will be more efficient in the longer term. Indeed, as the noble Lord indicated, tests are much cheaper in Northern Ireland than in England and Wales. The department carries out about 500,000 tests a year. The length of time that it will take to clear the backlog will depend on how soon the strike comes to an end.
On Question, Motion agreed to.
The Grand Committee adjourned at thirteen minutes before eight o'clock.
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