Explanatory note

These Regulations amend the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002 (“the 2002 Regulations”).

The Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 (“the 1994 Act”) provides for reduced rates of vehicle excise duty to be applicable to certain buses, haulage vehicles and heavy goods vehicles (“eligible vehicles”) which meet the reduced pollution requirements. Regulation 5 of, and Schedule 2 to, the 2002 Regulations prescribe the reduced pollution requirements for the purposes of the 1994 Act and provide for the issue of reduced pollution certificates where those requirements are found to be satisfied following an examination.

The fees for such examinations are prescribed in paragraph 13 of Schedule 2 to the 2002 Regulations. Where an examination of a vehicle is carried out under paragraph 8 of Schedule 2 to the 2002 Regulations (re-examination of a vehicle for which a reduced pollution certificate is in force) no fee is payable.

Regulation 3 removes the additional fee payable under paragraph 13(3) of Schedule 2 for an examination carried out at premises not provided by the Secretary of State. As a consequence, where the examination of an eligible vehicle, undertaken at premises not provided by the Secretary of State, is not carried out at the same time as an examination for other specified purposes the fee is reduced by 8.6% from £35 to £32 (paragraph 13(1)(a)). Where the examination of an eligible vehicle, undertaken at premises not provided by the Secretary of State, is carried out at the same time as an examination for other specified purposes the fee is reduced by 13.6% from £22 to £19 (paragraph 13(1)(b)).

Regulation 15 of, and Schedule 3 to, the 2002 Regulations provide that where an insurer has informed the Secretary of State that a vehicle is uneconomical to repair or the registration document has been surrendered to the Secretary of State under regulation 20(5) of those Regulations, the vehicle must undergo an examination to confirm it is the registered vehicle before a new registration document is issued. The examination is known as a “Vehicle Identity Check”. The fees for such examinations are prescribed in paragraph 7 of Schedule 3 to the 2002 Regulations.

Regulation 4 removes the additional fee payable under paragraph 7(2) of Schedule 3 for an examination carried out at premises not provided by the Secretary of State. As a consequence, the fee payable for an examination, undertaken at premises not provided by the Secretary of State, before the issue of a new registration document or for an appeal against the refusal to conduct the examination is reduced by 8.9% from £45 to £41 (paragraph 7(1)).

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: 0117 954 3200). 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 OPSI website www.opsi.gov.uk.