NCC Directorate meets Department for Transport officials to discuss ‘radically altered vehicles’

The NCC Directorate has met with senior civil servants at the Department for Transport (DfT) to discuss possible changes to the registration processes at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) for historic, classic, and radically altered vehicles.

Last week’s meeting was part of the Directorate’s regular communication with Government departments on behalf of the industry. In its response to the DVLA’s call for evidence the NCC stressed its primary concerns that:

·      No checks are made at the DVLA to ensure the conversion of a post-registered commercial van to a passenger-carrying ‘campervan’ does not affect the overall safety of the vehicle.

·      Existing DVLA guidance does not require evidence to prove a converted commercial van to a ‘campervan’ is in a safe condition i.e. appropriate installation of habitation equipment (gas and electrical) or evidence to ensure modifications have not invalidated the base vehicle type approval (addition of extra passenger seats, their fixing method and the seat belts).

The NCC called for:

·      DVLA guidance to require that these vehicles undergo a mandated safety approval process, for example an Independent Vehicle Assessment (IVA) before the body type code can be re-registered from a commercial van to a motorcaravan/campervan.

·      The DVLA to be informed as soon as a vehicle originally designed for the carriage of goods is converted for the purpose of carriage of passengers, such as a minibus or motorcaravan.

·      Enhanced collaboration between the DVLA and industry stakeholders, in the form of an ‘Independent Advisory Group for Radically Altered Vehicles’ to ensure a greater understanding of multi-stage vehicles such as motorcaravans and to address growing concerns with post-registration conversions.

Representatives from the DfT confirmed that while the “DVLA is in the process of evaluating the (consultation) responses which may result in changes to the current policies”, they were unable to provide more detail or a timeline.

The NCC Directorate expressed deep concern with the ongoing delay and it was agreed DfT officials would meet with the Head of Policy at the DVLA to relay the industry’s specific concerns ahead of a further roundtable meeting with the NCC Directorate.

We’ll keep members informed as this matter progresses.