Motor Vehicles (Tests) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020

Lord Goddard of Stockport Excerpts

Wednesday 13th May 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Goddard of Stockport (LD)]

I note that the government website states:

“Vehicles whose MOT certificate had expired by more than 12 months at the time of application for a new test are not eligible for a TEC … These vehicles should not be driven on public roads.”


As the noble Baroness, Lady Kennedy, has just said, that means that if the MoT ran out just before the lockdown, the car cannot be used on a public road. Do the Government have any idea of how many cars are being driven around on public roads with no TEC or MoT certificates? Are the owners going to be reported or prosecuted? I also note that heavy duty vehicles are being given only a three-month exemption, not six months. Do the Government have any plans to revise the guidelines to bring all transport vehicle testing in line?

In a previous life, I owned and drove a black cab as well as my own car, a private hire vehicle, a minibus and, as a PSV driver, even coaches. The testing of every one of those vehicles was rigorous and regular to ensure the safety of all passengers, which is as it should be. But from my memory, almost 40% of those vehicles failed on their first visit to the test centre. The noble Earl, Lord Erroll, was quite right to say that tracking and tyres are major defects that are picked up only on MoT certificate testing. People do not get under their cars with mirrors to look at the sides of their tyres. Also, vehicles which have been left standing for months on end will have flat spots. If someone gets in their car and drives at speed, the tyres will be more at risk.

One of my other concerns is the present licensing laws for private hire vehicles. For instance, operators can get a licence in one part of the country and operate in another. In Stockport, we have private hire operators working from as far away as Wolverhampton and Rossendale. These vehicles are not the responsibility of Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council because the original licensing authorities are responsible for finding out whether such vehicles have been tested. Many older people are still using taxis and private hire cars to get to hospital and to go shopping. These vehicles need to be serviced and maintained safely. Can the Minister assure me that mechanisms are in place to ensure public safety, as we come out of lockdown more and more, and that all forms of transport testing, from car to coach hire, are in place to protect the public?

As MoT stations come online more, why can they not test earlier and the six-month limit be brought forward to provide testing earlier for key workers? It could be argued that taxi and private hire drivers are key workers, so they should be able to get early testing.

Air Accident Investigation

Lord Goddard of Stockport Excerpts

Monday 10th February 2020 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Goddard of Stockport]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the decision by the Air Accident Investigation Branch to retrieve the body of Emiliano Sala and to not retrieve the body of David Ibbotson following the plane crash over the English Channel on 21 January 2019; and what plans they have, if any, to ask the Air Accident Investigation Branch to reconsider its decision.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Transport (Baroness Vere of Norbiton) (Con)]

My Lords, the Air Accidents Investigation Branch, or AAIB, works independently of the Department for Transport, and in accordance with annexe 13 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation. The sole objective of the AAIB investigation is the prevention of future accidents and incidents. In this case, once a body was found, the AAIB prioritised its recovery; it was only later identified as that of Emiliano Sala. The Government accept that no evidence of David Ibbotson’s body was found, and so no retrieval could occur.

[Lord Goddard of Stockport (LD)]

I thank the Minister for that Answer and for taking the time to speak to me before today to clarify the situation. However, leading on from that, what are the Government doing to crack down on grey charter flights, which is a growing problem in the air industry? They are unlicensed air taxis, which are used by footballers, celebrities and other people to bypass the system and get from A to B with a degree of privacy. It is a problem—they are unlicensed and unregulated, and we need to clamp down. One lesson comes from this unfortunate tragedy: we need to be more stringent regarding how people travel around in these unlicensed aircraft.

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

The noble Lord is completely right, and we share his concerns around grey charters. It is illegal to operate a commercial flight without an operating licence and an air operating certificate, which of course is overseen by the CAA. As a result of these concerns, the Department for Transport has commenced an independent review of the safety of general aviation, and one of the strands of work that is happening as part of that review is to look at illegal charters and consider what more steps we could be taking to prevent them.