More than nine out of ten people who responded to the Government’s own “red-tape challenge” and who raised the MOT issue opposed proposals to reduce testing frequency, according to DfT papers released today.

The Government consulted the public on vehicle safety and standards as part of its review of road transport regulations in May and June this year. More than three-quarters of respondents raised the issue of the MOT but less than 5% of those (and less than 3% of all respondents) supported changing frequency. The full results are:

  • 291 responses to red tape challenge on Vehicle safety and Standards
  • 220 mentioned MOT frequency change (75.6 % of all responses)
  • 203 of those who mentioned MOT were against the change (92.3%)
  • 10 people were for the change (4.5%)
  • 7 people mentioned MOT but didn’t say whether they were for or against a change

A spokesman for the Pro-MOTe campaign said:

“The results of the Government’s own red tape challenge are telling. Ministers mistakenly believed that reducing the frequency of MOT testing would prove popular with motorists. But now we see that their own consultation last summer demonstrated the overwhelming opposition to it.

“The Government should now accept the results of its own consultation and drop these dangerous, expensive and unwanted plans.”