Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the explanatory note to the Draft Contracting Out (Vehicle Certification and Related Functions) Order 2014, for what reasons his Department does not foresee an impact on the private or voluntary sectors.

The Order, if approved by Parliament, would give the Secretary of State power to delegate some of his existing statutory functions to a non-public sector body. The functions themselves are not being amended, so the standards that any non-public sector body would need to meet remain the same as those to which the Secretary of State, acting through the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA), currently adheres. The Order does not change existing legislative requirements imposed on the automotive industry. The VCA has no routine dealings with the voluntary sector.