Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association in the context of its role as an approved alternative dispute resolution (ADR) body, including in relation to its independence and compliance with the requirements for ADR providers.

The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme is a voluntary, non-statutory dispute resolution scheme, set up by the industry and independent of government.

DBT funds the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) who accredit and regularly audit BVRLA against key principles including neutrality, independence and effective complaints handling under a new mandatory accreditation and monitoring framework in the 2026 ADR Regulations.

The new 2026 ADR Regulations replace the 2015 ADR Regulations, introducing mandatory accreditation of all ADR providers, strengthened accreditation and monitoring standards and new sanctioning powers to tackle poor performance.