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The Infrastructure Minister will shortly make a decision on who will carry out MOT-style checks in Jersey and whether all drivers will have to go to a single Government-owned testing centre.
Express understands that Deputy Tom Binet will turn his attention to the centre in the next few weeks, now that his review into the hospital has been published.
Garages will be keen to find out if he intends to change tack, as he has with the new hospital. The previous administration opted to build a single testing centre but failed to find a suitable location to build it.
Jersey committed to introduce MOT-style checks for vehicles – which will be once every three years – when it signed up to the UN Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, which was extended to the island in March 2019.
This was to enable Jersey cars to drive in Europe after Brexit.
Lorries have long been inspected regularly and the Government introduced biennial motorcycle checks in April 2019.
£6.475m was earmarked in previous Government Plans for the construction of a Vehicle Testing Centre but no such facility has been built.
It was planned that car inspections would begin this year but funds had to be reprioritised and the centre has been delayed until 2024.
It is understood that the £6.475m was allocated by the Treasury but never drawn down by the Infrastructure, Housing and Environment Department. IHE would therefore have to make a fresh bid for funding.
Pictured: A decision on how 'periodic vehicle inspections' will be carried out is due imminently, Express understands.
In the Government Plan covering 2000 to 2023, £1.3m of the £6.475m was earmarked to be spent next year, but in the latest spending plans, covering 2023 to 2026, just £100,000 has been budgeted for the testing centre - suggesting that the Government is looking at different options again.
Some in the motor trade believe that having a single Government-run centre will be a costly and inefficient exercise.
Martin Fernando, who owns the island’s largest repair centre, said: “I suspect it would require up to 20 technicians to carry out the MOTs, and qualified technicians can get paid £26 to £30 an hour. We have a struggle to recruit so how much will it cost the taxpayer to have a full team?
“The major garages in Jersey have the skills and technicians already, as well as the equipment and I think it would be an insult to the people of Jersey if the Government spent all this money unnecessarily; why break something that isn’t broken?
“The garages know their customers and they know their cars, and our customers trust us to do a good job.”
Mr Fernando also questioned whether MOT-style checks were suitable for Jersey.
“At the moment, we have honorary and full-time officers carrying out road checks. They not only find faults; it also gives them a chance to check insurance and whether someone has been drinking. Also, it’s going to be every three years but a kid doing donuts in a carpark can ruin their tyres in a few minutes.
“The number of people taking their cars to Europe is a fraction of the total on our roads. Surely it makes sense to require an MOT if you’re driving in the Continent but why make the rest of the island pay for it?”
Earlier this year, then Infrastructure Minister Kevin Lewis attempted to change the Bridging Island Plan to rezone two fields next to the Airport for a central testing centre.
However, he withdrew the amendment after it was roundly criticised by Environment Minister John Young, who argued that his ministerial colleague had bypassed the proper consultation process.
This week, now Constable Lewis said: “My preferred option would have been to build something down at La Collette but construction is restricted there by the rules that were put in place after the 2005 Buncefield fire.
“People have said why we don’t just check vehicles that go to Europe but people who travel here also need the assurance that all cars in Jersey have been checked.”
He added: “The UK has had MOTs since 1960 and there is a lot of investment required in staff and equipment to carry out the required checks. I opted for single Government-run centre because I did not want some garages to be disadvantaged by not having the resources to do the tests.
“We were certainly moving in the right direction and actively looking for a site, but it is obviously up to the new Infrastructure Minister to decide the next steps.
“I understand that those overseeing driving standards in Europe are aware that we are still looking for a site and are content that we are moving towards compliance with the Vienna Convention.”
Guernsey has opted to use local garages to carry out checks rather than a central centre.
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Express previously sat down with DVS Head Gordon Forrest to discuss the plans for driving MOTs into Jersey...
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