The DVSA has published its fourth annual review, outlining its 2020-2021 activities.

The recent ‘beat the rush’ campaign, which encouraged motorists to bring their MOT test forward following last year’s Covid six-month MOT extension, was among a number of “achievements” highlighted in the report.

The report read: “We worked with stakeholders to design the Beat the Rush campaign to help smooth the demand for MOT testing when exemptions ended.

“We created a toolkit of resources for garages to help them communicate with their own customers, and successfully promoted the campaign via our own social media, DVSA direct emails and our Matters of Testing blog.”

Related: Testing stations passing one in seven vehicles that should fail MOT, investigation finds

New regulation for tyres aged 10 or more years old on commercial and public service vehicles, a review of the heavy
vehicle testing model and the DVSA’s “digital transformation” were also cited as agency achievements.

Meanwhile, the DVSA achieved a 50 per cent increase in the number of MOT cases where it acted upon the most
serious fraud, dishonesty and negligence, far surpassing it’s targeted five per cent increase.

Loveday Ryder, DVSA accounting officer and chief executive said: “Over the coming year we will be developing our next strategy and we will need to keep in step with customer expectations, technological innovations, and new ways of working.

Related: DVSA publishes 2021 to 2022 business plan

“Before the COVID-19 pandemic, we were already facing a period of rapid change.

“As we emerge from the pandemic, we will continue to improve the experience for our customers and help the country build back better – being fairer, safer, stronger and greener than before.

“Following a DfT-led review of our heavy vehicle testing services, we will be working with vehicle operators and authorised testing facilities (ATFs) this year to prioritise where we improve, develop and implement an action plan.”

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