Catalogue description Records of the Vehicle Inspectorate Agency

In 1987 the Vehicle Inspection Division of the Road and Vehicle Safety Division of the Department of Transport was renamed the Vehicle Inspectorate. On 1 August 1988, under the 'next steps' initiative, the Inspectorate became the first executive agency of the Department. The role of the Vehicle Inspectorate Agency is to enforce the law on vehicle safety and environmental standards, and to contribute to the maintenance and improvement of road safety and of environmental standards.

Initially, the agency's functions were: to appoint authorised examiners, to carry out Ministry of Transport (MOT) tests, to regulate the testing of buses and coaches, to provide staff to make roadside checks on vehicles and to investigate accidents. It was mostly concerned with the mechanical condition of vehicles.

On 1 April 1991 the Inspectorate merged with the Traffic Examiner organisation and the Traffic Area Office Enforcement sections, becoming responsible for enforcing the law on the operation of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and public service vehicles (PSVs) on such matters as vehicle weights, drivers' hours and operator licensing, and assisting the Traffic Commissioners in their licensing functions.

The merged organisation has seven Enforcement Groups based on Traffic Area boundaries. The Enforcement Offices are in Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Eastbourne, Edinburgh, Manchester and Leeds.

On 1 September 1993 the Inspectorate split into three divisions, Vehicle Testing, Road Transport Enforcement and Central Services, and a Chief Executive's Office. The Vehicle Testing Division carries out annual tests of heavy goods, public service and light commercial vehicles at the Inspectorate's 91 testing stations. The Road Transport Enforcement Division carries out the Inspectorate's enforcement functions such as roadside checks, fleet and maintenance inspections, supervision of the MOT scheme. There are twenty-three enforcement units and eight enforcement offices.

In 1995 a new headquarters division was created from the Central Services Division and most of the Chief Executive's Office. The new division was called the Corporate Affairs Division and is responsible for Corporate Policy and Projects and Corporate Operations.