MoT: Doubts surround the standard of new test centre equipment

MoT: Doubts surround the standard of new test centre equipment

Tests are under way to establish if a new multi-million pound MoT centre in Belfast is “fit for purpose”.

The Minister for Infrastructure has said officials are currently not content that new equipment in the centre is up to standard.

John O’Dowd said officials are “engaging with the providers of that equipment and working through the difficulties and the challenges that are there”.

The new centre is located at Hydebank, includes seven lanes for testing cars and light goods vehicles, one lane for testing heavy goods vehicles and buses, and a separate testing bay for motorcycles.

Speaking on the BBC’s The View programme, Mr O’Dowd said: “We have the equipment in but my officials are not satisfied that the equipment is meeting the standards they expect, at this stage, so there’s further testing taking place.”

Earlier in the month, Mr O’Dowd told the Assembly that the opening of the new centre later this year would help to tackle the ongoing backlog in the MoT testing system in Northern Ireland.

Chair of the infrastructure committee Deborah Erskine said she had been previously aware of “software-hardware issue” at the new centre.

She added that she was “disappointed” that the centre was not open in order to deal with the backlog in testing.

Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) chief executive Jeremy Logan said motorists faced an average wait of 72 days for tests.

Delays began in late 2019 when cracks were found in the majority of vehicle lifts across Northern Ireland’s MoT centres.

In 2020, an additional backlog resulted from the Covid-19 epidemic.

Mr Logan continued “changed customer behaviours” – such as customers holding onto cars for longer and more cars on the road – were responsible for the pressures.

To address the backlog, the infrastructure minister has ruled out privatising MoT services, which is akin to the British testing scheme wherein approved commercial garages conduct tests.

He said DVA staff were working tirelessly to reduce waiting times by increasing its capacity.

When will the new MoT centre open?

The new Hydebank centre was due to open in 2022 but the construction was delayed as a result of the Covid pandemic and other global factors in recent years.

However, Mr O’Dowd stated he can’t provide an opening date until he is sure the equipment meets the required standard.

He said “I won’t give a firm date until my officials and I are satisfied that the centre is fit for purpose.

“I’m not frustrated, I am determined to get that centre opened but I will only sign off on it when I am satisfied that the equipment in it is fit for purpose”.

2 Comments

  1. They should have learned from the last fiasco with the cracks in the ramps

    Reply
  2. Does this story not highlight the extent to which the UK government has externalised the true cost of testing on private operators? Equipment suppliers appear to have the ear of government and generally offer poor products and poor product support at inflated prices. Despite this, recent inflationary pressures across the board and new areas of expenditure being forced upon test centres (training, IT provision etc), the test fee continues unchanged since 2010. Unless urgent action is taken, the operation of market forces could see the problems being experienced in Northern Ireland replicated across the whole of the UK.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

Have your say!

0 1

Lost Password

Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.