The Goods Vehicles (Plating and Testing) (Amendment) Regulations 2012

Statutory Instruments

2012 No. 305

Road Traffic

The Goods Vehicles (Plating and Testing) (Amendment) Regulations 2012

Made

7th February 2012

Laid before Parliament

13th February 2012

Coming into force

1st April 2012

The Secretary of State for Transport makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 49, 51(1) and 63A of the Road Traffic Act 1988(1).

Representative organisations have been consulted in accordance with section 195(2) of that Act.

In determining the amount of the fees specified in these Regulations, the Secretary of State has taken into account the costs of the functions listed in paragraphs 28 to 35 of Schedule 1 to the Department for Transport (Fees) Order 2009(2) and has taken into account the matters listed in Schedule 2 to that Order in determining the costs of those functions.

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Goods Vehicles (Plating and Testing) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 and they come into force on 1st April 2012.

Amendment of Regulations

2.  The Goods Vehicles (Plating and Testing) Regulations 1988(3) are amended as follows.

Manner of making application for first examinations or periodical tests, and fees

3.  In paragraph (3) of regulation 12, for the Table substitute—

“Table

Description of vehicle	Fee where first examination or periodical test is carried out at a vehicle testing station provided by the Secretary of State (£)	Fee where the first examination or periodical test is, at the applicant’s request, carried out at a vehicle testing station not provided by the Secretary of State (£)
Motor vehicle with 2 axles	98	93
Motor vehicle with 3 axles	123	117
Motor vehicle with 4 or more axles	150	141
Trailer with 1 axle	44	42
Trailer with 2 axles	59	56
Trailer with 3 or more axles	71	67”

Fees for re-tests

4.  In paragraph (1) of regulation 16, for the Table substitute—

“Table

Description of vehicle	Fee where re-test is carried out at a vehicle testing station provided by the Secretary of State (£)	Fee where the re-test is, at the applicant’s request, carried out at a vehicle testing station not provided by the Secretary of State (£)
Motor vehicle with 2 axles	40	37
Motor vehicle with 3 axles	56	52
Motor vehicle with 4 or more axles	73	68
Trailer with 1 axle	20	19
Trailer with 2 axles	28	26
Trailer with 3 or more axles	37	35”

Further amendments relating to fees

5.  In the regulations specified in column (1) of the following Table, for each amount specified in column 2 substitute the amount specified in column (3).

Table

(1)	(2)	(3)
Regulation	Existing Amount (£)	Substituted Amount (£)
25(4)	29	31
34(1)	27	28
37B(2)	27	28

6.  In regulation 34(2A), for the words “£27 in the case of a motor vehicle and £27 in the case of a trailer”, substitute “£26 in respect of a motor vehicle or a trailer”.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State

Mike Penning

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State

Department for Transport

7th February 2012

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Goods Vehicles (Plating and Testing) Regulations 1988 (“the 1988 Regulations”). Regulations 3 to 6 amend most of the fees prescribed by the 1988 Regulations.

Regulation 3 changes the fee payable on an application for a first examination or periodical test. Table 1 shows fee changes where the first examination or periodical test is carried out at a vehicle testing station provided by the Secretary of State (with the percentage increase shown in brackets).

Table 1

Description of vehicle	Old Fee (£)	New Fee (£)
Motor vehicle with 2 axles	95	98 (3.2%)
Motor vehicle with 3 axles	120	123 (2.5%)
Motor vehicle with 4 or more axles	145	150 (3.4%)
Trailer with 1 axle	43	44 (2.3%)
Trailer with 2 axles	57	59 (3.5%)
Trailer with 3 or more axles	68	71 (4.4%)

Table 2 shows fee changes where the first examination or periodical test is carried out, at the applicant’s request, at a vehicle testing station not provided by the Secretary of State. These fees have been reduced (with the percentage decrease shown in brackets).

Table 2

Description of vehicle	Old Fee (£)	New Fee (£)
Motor vehicle with 2 axles	95	93 (-2.1%)
Motor vehicle with 3 axles	120	117 (-2.5%)
Motor vehicle with 4 or more axles	145	141 (-2.8%)
Trailer with 1 axle	43	42 (-2.3%)
Trailer with 2 axles	57	56 (-1.8%)
Trailer with 3 or more axles	68	67 (-1.5%)

Regulation 4 changes the fee payable on an application for a re-test carried out within 14 days after the vehicle was submitted for its first examination or periodic test (regulation 16(1) and (3) of the 1988 Regulations). The new fees for re-tests carried out at a vehicle testing station provided by the Secretary of State are shown in Table 3 (with the percentage increase shown in brackets).

Table 3

Description of vehicle	Old Fee (£)	New Fee (£)
Motor vehicle with 2 axles	38	40 (5.3%)
Motor vehicle with 3 axles	53	56 (5.7%)
Motor vehicle with 4 or more axles	70	73 (4.3%)
Trailer with 1 axle	19	20 (5.3%)
Trailer with 2 axles	27	28 (3.7%)
Trailer with 3 or more axles	36	37 (2.8%)

The new fees for re-tests carried out, at the applicant’s request, at a vehicle testing station not provided by the Secretary of State are shown in Table 4. All but one of these fees have been reduced (with the percentage decrease, where applicable, shown in brackets).

Table 4

Description of vehicle	Old Fee (£)	New Fee (£)
Motor vehicle with 2 axles	38	37 (-2.6%)
Motor vehicle with 3 axles	53	52 (-1.9%)
Motor vehicle with 4 or more axles	70	68 (-2.9%)
Trailer with 1 axle	19	19 (0.0%)
Trailer with 2 axles	27	26 (-3.7%)
Trailer with 3 or more axles	36	35 (-2.8%)

The old fees shown in the above tables applied with effect from 1st April 2010.

Regulation 5 makes the following fee changes.

In regulation 25(4) of the 1988 Regulations, where an appeal is made to the Secretary of State by any person aggrieved by a determination made on a first examination, the accompanying fee is increased by 6.9% from £29 to £31. This fee also applies to an appeal relating to a periodical test by virtue of regulation 29(2) or, in either case, to a re-test and was last fixed with effect from 20th April 2009.

In regulation 34(1) of the 1988 Regulations, where there is a request for an amendment to a plating certificate following a notifiable alteration or for a re-examination where a particular contained in a plating certificate is or may be no longer applicable, the fee is increased by 3.7% from £27 to £28.

In regulation 37B(2) of the 1988 Regulations, the fee payable for the alteration of the plated weights (or any of the plated weights) for a vehicle without an examination is increased by 3.7% from £27 to £28. The old fees in relation to regulations 34(1) and (2A), and 37B were last fixed with effect from 1st April 2010.

The opportunity has been taken in regulation 6 to simplify regulation 34(2A) of the 1988 Regulations by introducing a single fee in relation to both motor vehicles and trailers. In that regulation, where there is a re-examination following a notifiable alteration or with a view to amendment of a plating certificate where the vehicle testing station is not one provided by the Secretary of State, the fee is decreased by 3.7% from £27 to £26.

An impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available from the VOSA Corporate Office, Berkeley House, Croydon Street, Bristol BS5 0DA (telephone: [phone]). A copy has been placed in the library of each House of Parliament. The impact assessment is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument on the website, www.legislation.gov.uk.

(1)

1988 c.52; sections 49 and 51 were amended by the Road Traffic Act 1991 (c.41) Schedule 4, paragraph 54 and Schedule 8. Section 63A was inserted by the Transport Act 1982 (c. 49), section 18.

(2)

S.I. 2009/711. The relevant provisions in S.I. 2009/711 are articles 5(4) and 9.

(3)

S.I. 1988/1478; relevant amending instruments are S.I. 1989/1693, 1990/448, 1991/454, 1992/564 and 2447, 1993/2048 and 3013, 1997/82 and 263, 1998/1671, 2000/1433, 2001/1650, 2002/487, 2003/1816, 2004/1873, 2005/2343, 2007/503, 2008/1460, 2009/799 and 2010/448.