What NHS Test and Trace means for independent garages

[Mike Ruff, GW editor]

The new NHS Test and Trace service, which was launched yesterday (Thursday 28 May) in England, has raised concerns about the possible repercussions on
[See the full post at: What NHS Test and Trace means for independent garages]

[Graham Cox]

I have a sensible question
who pays the mechanic or reception staff person when they are away for 14 days ???
are we expected to put our hand in our empty pockets to cover the cost ???
I totally agree we need to stay safe and get rid of covid but at what cost to independent garages
on another issue I am right to assume once mot testing returns that the fee should be fixed at the current dvsa level ???
ernigrip motors ltd

[Mike Ruff, GW editor]

Hi Graham, very good questions!

Government advice states employers must ensure any self-isolating employee is receiving sick pay and give them the option to use their paid leave days if they prefer.

On the MOT fee, we’re aware that the IGA is encouraging garages to “stand united” at the DVSA’s recommended MOT price of £54.85 to help garages recuperate costs from the loss of revenue throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we’re not aware of any indication by the DVSA to officially “fix the fee”, despite long-held calls for it to do so.

[Alan]

Either your reporter has misinterpreted the rules or they are a farce as there is a clearly different approach between infection at home and infection at work. You state ‘If a member of staff comes into contact with COVID-19 they must stay at home for 14 days, even if they do not have any symptoms’ so it is very possible that should one of my staff members develop symptoms then we would have to close but you also state that ‘Members of their household will not have to stay at home unless the person identified becomes symptomatic’.

I don’t know about you but I am less likely to be in close contact with my staff at work than I am with the other members of my household and so less likely to contract or pass the virus to a work colleague than I am to a household member. If this is correct then I am the only one in the world who isn’t having an affair at work????

[Mike Ruff, GW editor]

Hi Alan, thanks for raising this point. The information you refer to was supplied via press release from the Department of Health and Social Care. To clarify, only those who have been identified as having been in close contact with someone who has tested positive must stay at home for 14 days. To be considered by Test and Trace as someone who has been in contact with COVID-19, you must have been within two metres of someone who has tested positive for the virus for at least 15 minutes. Providing your staff stick to social distancing measures, they won’t all need to go into self-isolation at the same time. Thanks again, Mike.

[Graham beston]

Let’s be realistic, you have more chance of plotting fog than you have of getting the IG sector to charge the full for the MOT test. The MOT test and fee has been a race to the bottom since day 1. The car and van MOT stations need to take a look at how the designated premises scheme is running and how over the last 8 years the truck workshops have steadily increased their profit off testing even though they have to pay the DVSA a day rate of around £700 for their tester to do the actual test.
The main problem with the IG sector is they fail to have the ability to work out what an actual cost is to carry out an MOT test, the feel of they are busy they are profitable. In this industry you have to find the correct customer base that values the first class service that most of the IG sector supplies and that the dealer network will and could never match.

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