Asked by: Josh Dean (Labour - Hertford and Stortford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of delays in the Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA) testing process on specialist vehicle manufacturers; what steps she is taking to increase IVA testing capacity and improve the flexibility of the DVSA booking system; and whether she has considered allowing vehicles for which a valid IVA application has been submitted to be registered, taxed and placed into service pending inspection, subject to appropriate enforcement action where a vehicle subsequently fails its IVA test.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government recognises that delays to Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA) tests can affect specialist vehicle manufacturers and other businesses, including through delayed sales and impacts on cash flow.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is working with customers to minimise these delays. Demand has increased significantly, with imported vehicle approvals around 24% higher than during the same period last year. Imported vehicles account for around half of DVSA’s IVA testing.
DVSA is increasing testing capacity. Three new IVA assessors have recently started conducting approvals, with a further nine being recruited and trained. This will increase the number of specialist assessors by around 18%.
DVSA is also training additional examiners to carry out routine IVA examinations, simplifying processes and expanding testing at privately owned Vehicle Examination Facilities. It has also reviewed test times to improve efficiency and free up further capacity. These measures will increase testing capacity, widen the choice of locations and provide greater flexibility for customers.
Vehicles must meet the relevant safety, security, and environmental factors before they can be approved for first registration. The Government therefore has no current plans to allow vehicles awaiting an IVA inspection to be registered, taxed and placed into service.
Asked by: Josh Dean (Labour - Hertford and Stortford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the National Police Chiefs' Council's 2025 guidance on the management of abnormal loads; what steps her Department is taking to encourage consistent adoption by police forces; and whether Ministers plan to meet industry representatives to discuss consistency of adoption and the potential impact of secondary legislation on it.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport is encouraged that the industry response to the publication of guidance on the movement of abnormal loads by the National Police Chiefs' Council has been largely positive. We continue to engage with the Home Office on this issue, but operational decisions are for chief constables.
Department for Transport officials have established an abnormal loads working group with counterparts from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, the Home Office and also involving National Highways. This group is sharing information on the regime and future demand for abnormal load movements in key sectors and is taking forward actions to improve industry understanding of the process for moving abnormal loads.