Goods Vehicles (Testing, Drivers’ Hours and Tachographs etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2026

The Government are supporting the uptake of zero-emission vans via the plug-in van grant, which offers a maximum discount of £5,000 for vans weighing up to 4.25 tonnes, and through grant funding for charge points. In addition, in June 2025, regulations were introduced allowing the holders of a category B driving licence to drive zero-emission vans up to 4.25 tonnes without any additional training. The same regulations also provided the equivalent towing allowances for 4.25 tonne zero-emission vans as is available to their internal combustion engine counterparts.

These amending regulations will therefore provide additional regulatory consistency for operators switching to using a 3.5 to 4.25 tonne zero-emission van. At present, these vans are required to undergo a heavy vehicle test every year from first registration. These tests are carried out by staff from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency at authorised testing facilities. These regulations will mean that 3.5 to 4.25 tonne zero-emission vans are tested via the class 7 MoT test, which is currently used to test 3 to 3.5 tonne vans, with a first test three years from registration. The private sector class 7 MoT testing network is larger than the network of authorised testing facilities, providing greater choice for van operators. Combined with a later first test and a lower test cost, this will reduce the administrative burden on operators choosing to make the switch to a zero-emission van.

Moving 3.5 to 4.25 tonne zero-emission vans from the assimilated drivers’ hours rules into the GB rules will also provide regulatory consistency for van operators, as internal combustion engine vans weighing under 3.5 tonnes are already in scope of the GB rules. The GB rules do not require the use of tachographs to monitor driving time, removing an additional cost currently experienced by zero-emission van operators. The extra administrative burden for fleets, where drivers regularly switch between different types of vans and therefore different sets of drivers’ hours rules, is also removed by these regulations.

Both the roadworthiness testing regime and the drivers’ hours rules are in place to support road safety, and this has been an area of focus during the development of these regulations. Class 7 MoT testing is already used for vans with similar dimensions to 3.5 to 4.25 tonne zero-emission vans. While they are heavier, these vans may come with features such as regenerative braking that can support safer driving.

The daily driving limit under the GB drivers’ hours rules is only one hour longer than the limit under the assimilated rules, and the daily duty limit of 11 hours will restrict drivers from working long hours on other non-driving tasks. Following the implementation of these regulations, road safety data will be closely monitored. Both the number of collisions and their severity will be analysed to understand the impact on road safety, if any, of these regulations.

Secondly, given the improved safety features we are seeing on zero-emission vehicles, the move towards heavier vehicles—which this SI is part of—should not, I am sure we all hope, turn out to be at the expense of overall road safety. It is likely, for the reasons the Minister gave earlier, that the SI gets this balance right and rightly encourages zero-emission vehicles without endangering road safety. However, as they are generally heavier, it is important to be sure that we are getting this right. Can the Minister provide a bit more detail about the plans the department has to keep this situation under review?

I ask that because when the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations came through the system last year and were scrutinised by the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, the department very much focused on how zero-emission vehicles are no more likely to be in an accident than other vehicles. It gave—I think it is fair to say—relatively little consideration to the risk that, even if there are not more accidents involving zero-emission vehicles, their typically greater weight might mean those accidents are more severe in nature.

That focus on the frequency rather than severity of accidents unfortunately continues in the Explanatory Memorandum for this statutory instrument. It is absolutely fair to say, and it is very welcome, that in response to questioning from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, the department engaged more directly with the issue of the severity and not merely the frequency of accidents. I therefore hope that the Minister will take this opportunity to be clear about the department’s commitment to tracking whether increased weight causes any safety issues that need further action to address, and in particular what data will be published, and with what frequency, to make sure that we can be confident that these changes are working.

Finally, as mentioned earlier, there is the Northern Ireland angle and the divergence we will see in tachograph requirements between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Government’s approach, as I understand it, rests heavily on saying that this will not be a problem, because the number of relevant zero-emission vehicles which currently travel between Great Britain and Northern Ireland is fairly small. There is, though, a potential tension between a policy that is designed overall to increase the number of zero-emission vehicles in use, yet also depends in part on the number of those vehicles in use between Great Britain and Northern Ireland being and remaining small. As the Minister mentioned earlier, there are certainly powers and responsibilities that rest with the Northern Ireland Executive in that area, but if we are changing rules for Great Britain that may have an adverse knock-on effect for Northern Ireland, that is obviously our responsibility as well. I hope the Minister can reassure us that monitoring will be done of the number of relevant zero-emission vehicles travelling between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

I hope that on all three points, the answers will be such as to reassure everyone that the result of this statutory instrument will be a welcome, safe and practical growth in the use of zero-emission vehicles.

The second aspect relates to the question of Northern Ireland. What we are seeing here, and this applies to the remainder of my remarks, is that the commitment to net zero is now taking over and becoming responsible for all sorts of problems and costs, not merely financial. One of them, because the vans we are discussing are mostly used for commercial purposes, will be a disruption to trade and the provision of services—artisanal services, plumbers, whatever—between one part of the United Kingdom and another because we have chosen to do this.

The Minister appeared to say that this is not a problem arising from the Windsor Framework; it is entirely because the power involved rests with the Northern Ireland Assembly. If that is the case, what contact and what effort has the department made to co-ordinate this action and decision with Northern Ireland, so that these unnecessary barriers do not arise? Will the Minister tell us what discussions have therefore taken place?

Those are the immediate topics. What is the timetable, what is the practical proposal for resolving the legislative gap, and what contact occurred between the department and the Northern Ireland authorities to try to ensure that these measures went ahead in tandem and that this rupture—this unnecessary rupture, as it now appears—in trade between different parts of the United Kingdom did not take place?

I say on a personal note that, years ago, I used to have some responsibility for Albert Bridge as a local councillor, and I see that it is now closed. At that time, we spent quite a lot of money bringing Albert Bridge up to a standard where it could bear and be safe for 3-tonne vehicles—that would be the weight limit. Now that 3-tonne limit is almost of historical interest, so another bridge across the river in London is being taken out of use. What is the Government’s plan for this? There is no plan for any of this. They have not thought about any of these things; they just drive ahead recklessly with net zero.

Although this measure appears to have a purely technical character, it is very significant in a number of respects that I have set out in my speech. The Government need to start taking these things seriously, because otherwise they will be abandoning their transport-related duties. That is something we will constantly highlight and oppose.