The DVSA has published its second annual review, which majors on recent changes to the MOT system and vehicle recalls.

Opening the report in his forward, Gareth Llewellyn, DVSA accounting officer and chief executive, said: “I am immensely proud of the commitment and professionalism of colleagues across DVSA who work so hard to ensure people stay safe on Britain’s roads.”

The agency has delivered a post-dividend surplus of £13.8m for the year (2016-17: £30.7m), against a budgeted figure of £1.4m.

The report suggests that the surplus will be invested into a number of areas for further improvement including the MOT Testing Service.

Service improvements

Highlighting it’s performance from 2017 to 2018, the agency has said is has continued to improve the MOT testing service to support MOT managers and testers.

EU Roadworthiness Directives were implemented in May 2018, which saw a major overhaul to the vehicle testing and enforcement standards, including making changes to the MOT system and heavy vehicle testing systems.

The report also revealed that the agency significantly exceeded its target to act on MOT cases involving serious fraud, dishonesty or negligence.

The report reads: “During the year the agency restructured the Counter-Fraud and Investigation team to support the Counter Fraud Strategy and the in-housing of investigations that were previously contracted out.

“The agency prosecuted 1,038 cases, an increase from 787 in 2016-17, with 1,258 defendants leading to 4,015 offences upheld.”

MOT history

Improvements to the MOT history information service were also highlighted, which now allows people to access MOT records and information on outstanding vehicle recalls.

Almost 700,000 users are now registered for the service.

Gareth Llewellyn said: “We have made further improvements to our services on www.gov.uk including links to information on approved driving instructors, MOT garages and vehicle recalls.

“In addition to these services, we now have over 700,000 users registered for the MOT reminder service,
helping to reduce the number of vehicles on the road without a valid MOT.”

Read the full report by following the ‘more details’ link.

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