DVSA: Vehicle testers and traffic examiners to strike

Some vehicle testing and enforcement services might be affected by strike action during December and January 2023, says the DVSA.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) says that some staff, who are members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, are planning to take strike action during December and January.

This will include vehicle standards assessors, specialist vehicle standards assessors, traffic examiners and vehicle examiners.

Driving tests will also be impacted, with driving examiners also taking industrial action during December and January.

Further information on the impact on driving tests, can be found here. 

The strike action is part of national industrial action by the PCS union over pay, pensions, jobs and redundancy terms.

Industrial action by vehicle testers and traffic examiners will affect different parts of the country at different times, with north-east England and Scotland impacted from Tuesday, December 13, to Sunday, December 18.

North-west England and Yorkshire and the Humber will be impacted from Monday, December 19, to Saturday, December 24; the East of England, East Midlands, West Midlands and parts of London from Wednesday, December 28, to Saturday, December 31, and Tuesday, January 3; and London, south-east England, south-west England and Wales from Wednesday, January 4 to Tuesday, January 10.

Industrial action for vehicle examiners and traffic examiners in all areas of Great Britain will run from 6am on Sunday, December 18, to 8am on Wednesday, December 21.  

MOTs for cars, vans and motorcycles MOTs for cars, vans and motorcycles are not affected by the strike action, says the DVSA. They will be taking place as planned.

DVSA does not expect the strike action to also affect MOTs for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), buses and trailers, but says it will not know for certain until the strike action takes place.

Not all DVSA staff are PCS union members, and even if they are, they might choose not to go on strike.