The Deputy should note that it has, for some time, been an offence to use a vehicle on public roads without a valid NCT certificate. Currently, this is a 'straight-to-court' offence which attracts 5 penalty points on conviction. The change to that position that I will be implementing shortly - by commencing section 10 of the Road Traffic Act 2014 - is to bring this offence within the Fixed Charge Payment System so that persons will have the option of receiving 3 penalty points on payment of the Fixed Charge rather than automatically being required to go to court.
The RSA has overall responsibility for the operation, oversight, development, quality assurance and delivery of the National Car Test.
I am advised that any car owner will receive an NCT appointment within 28 days. I understand that, in order to meet this standard, in some cases, the National Car Testing Service (NCTS) holds requests on a waiting list until a suitable slot is found. In the majority of cases, customers are given a slot within the required timescale. However, if a slot is not found within 28 days, the test should be offered free of charge.
Also, to further facilitate demand, an NCT may now be undertaken up to 90 days in advance of the test due date without affecting the expiry date of the new certificate. This system is in place to ensure that owners have ample time to have their vehicle tested before their current NCT certificate expires. The RSA has run a significant advertising campaign since September to highlight this.
The RSA informs me that it is in a favourable position to deal with current demand and that the NCTS has been testing record numbers of vehicles to date in 2014.