| 30th November |
| MoT's every other
year? |
A recent
Treasury review of "EU red tape" reported that
the UK government has a tendency to take EU regulations
to the extreme, making them hit the British public - and
British business - rather harder than actually intended.
The report, undertaken by Lord Davidson of Glen Corva, used
the annual MoT as an example - EU minimum requirements are
for testing every other year, starting when a vehicle is
four years old. In fact, of course, the UK's testing regime
pre-dates UK joining the "common market" in 1972,
so no-one can argue that our annual testing regime has anything
to do with the EU. However, the report has triggered a serious
discussion on the testing regime that has been reported
in various organs of the media.
FBHVC has yet to take a view on the subject as we have not
seen any firm proposals, but first reaction is that we believe
all vehicles should be thoroughly checked at least annually,
however few miles they travel, and an annual MoT provides
the discipline to ensure that happens. |
|
| 21st November |
| Metric feet? |
| Motor Cycle News recently
carried an item highlighting the fact that the UK’s
derogation from EU Directive 80/181 is due to end in three
years. When it ends, it will be illegal to put on the market
(by way of trade) with packaging showing imperial units -
in general, everything will have to be metric. FBHVC is investigating
to establish whether or not the exemptions built in to the
legislation extend to parts and tools for the repair of vehicles
built using imperial units. It appears at first sight that
it will not be illegal to market a ruler calibrated in inches,
but it does appear it will be impossible to describe it correctly
on any label. We aim for a report in our first newsletter
of 2007. |
|
| 17th November |
| FBHVC Public Liability Insurance
Scheme improvement |
The Public Liability
Insurance scheme arranged by Willis Ltd for FBHVC subscriber
clubs was introduced early in 2006 and has already seen
35% of clubs seek quotations, with cover being taken up
by over 50% of those making enquiries. Brief inspection
of those who had not taken up quotations showed one of the
main reasons to be an exclusion in the optional Product
Liability section of cover that effectively prevented clubs
with spares schemes from selling safety critical components
(meaning parts for the brakes, steering and suspension).
At a review meeting in October, FBHVC pressed this point.
Willis referred to underwriters, AIG, who have agreed to
amend the exclusion so that it only applies to the manufacture
of such parts, thus allowing clubs to supply them. We are
awaiting detail of the revised wording, but believe this
to be a valuable improvement to the scheme. |
|
| 30th October |
| Users' Guide |
As part of its commitment
to the EU Road Safety Charter, the Federation Internationale
des Vehicules Anciens (FIVA) is publishing a guide for users
of historic vehicles to encourage drivers to maintain the
current low level of serious accidents involving older vehicles.
The guide can be seen HERE and will be available for UK
clubs to distribute to their members early in December.
|
|
18th October |
The Historic
Vehicle Movement in Britain is worth £3.2 billion
annual turnover. |
This represents a quarter
of the European total of €16 billion identified by
the FIVA survey (see below). The results were announced
to an audience of MPs and journalists in Westminster on
Wednesday, 11 October and again at the FBHVC Annual General
Meeting on 14 October.
Unlike the European survey, the British survey had been
done before some ten years ago at which time the headline
value was estimated at £1.6 billion. The historic
vehicle movement in Britain is alive, well and growing.
|
|
| 5th October |
| Historic Vehicle Movement in Europe
is worth €16 billion annual turnover |
The results of a major project
to assess the social, cultural and economic value of the historic
vehicle movement in Europe were announced in Brussels last
night. This showed that activity surrounding historic vehicles
involves millions of people in Europe and contributes significantly
to national economies.
The project, involving 750,000 questionnaires in nine different
languages using five currencies was managed on behalf of the
Federation Internationale des Vehicules Anciens by FBHVC's
immediate past chairman, Geoff Smith. The analysis of the
questionnaires was undertaken by Drs. Paul Frost and Chris
Hart of the Historic Vehicle Research Institute. |
|
14th September |
Environment
Agency action |
A recent case brought
by the Environment Agency (EA) against Terry Brown, a Rover
specialist, who had several "donor" vehicles on
his premises has sounded some serious alarm bells. On 8
September, Terry was found guilty of keeping "waste"
without the appropriate waste management licence to entitle
him to do so.
FBHVC cannot become involved
in individual cases, so we make no comment on the rights
and wrongs of this particular case, but we have been concerned
by remarks that were made during the course of the trial
that suggest that EA thinks that anyone who acquires and
keeps a vehicle that has reached the end of its useful life
needs such a licence. We do not believe this to be the case.
|
|
| 13th September |
| Transport Minister visits Beaulieu |
|
Dr. Stephen Ladyman
MP, Minister of State at the Department for Transport with
responsibility for roads, accepted the suggestion made by
Greg Knight MP (chairman of the All Party Parliamentary
Historic Vehicle Group) that he should visit the Beaulieu
International Autojumble to see for himself the enthusiasm,
skill and knowledge - as well as the parts - that underpin
the historic vehicle movement. Dr. Ladyman was accompanied
on his all too brief visit by Greg Knight (left) and FBHVC
Chairman, Andrew Burt. He later joined the FBHVC committee
at an informal dinner and confessed to being sorely tempted
by an Alfa Romeo Spyder that he had seen when visiting Bonhams
stand... |
5th September
European Parliament recognises importance of historic vehicles
The European Parliament has approved the text of a proposal
for a Directive on passenger vehicle taxation (aimed at simplifying
vehicle taxation structures across EU). The approved text included
this amendment: “in the interest of preserving classic
and old vintage vehicles, nothing in this Directive shall inhibit
the right of Member States to exempt vehicles of at least 20
years of age from circulation taxes.” This clearly demonstrates
that the European Parliament sees historic vehicles as a special
case.
1st September
Lord Strathcarron
We are sad to record the passing of Lord Strathcarron - one
of those larger than life characters, David Strathcarron was
President of the Guild of Motoring Writers and as such was a
great friend to FBHVC. He had been employed as a salesman by
Rolls-Royce in the immediate post-war years at which time he
was also a semi-professional racing driver, retained by Marwyn
for their 500cc single seater before graduating to Alfa Romeos.
He was an equally enthusiastic motorcyclist
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
31st August
Good news for TVO tractor owners
Tractor vaporising oil (a kerosene based fuel) has not been
marketed in bulk since the 1960s. A few suppliers would make
it up to order, but most people who have needed this fuel have
created their own using kerosene heating oil - either straight
or mixed with small portions of petrol or diesel according to
their preferred recipe. This was technically illegal, and certainly
illegal to use this fuel in tractors used on the road since
kerosene is a "rebated" fuel on which the normal road
fuel duty has not been paid.
FBHVC took this matter up with HM Revenue and Customs earlier
this year and with the help of the National Vintage Tractor
and Engine Club and the Cornish Tractor Club put forward a request
for a licence to allow kerosene to be used as a tractor fuel.
That licence was granted on 30 August and allows owners of pre-1960
tractors who are members of a FBHVC subscriber club to mix rebated
kerosene with other fuels (excluding red-diesel) in the tanks
of their tractors. Full details including the text of the licence
will be published in Newsletter 5/2006 at the beginning of October.
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2nd August
Want to Help?
It isn’t always easy to find the right people to fill
well-paid vacancies, let alone the totally unremunerated key
positions within clubs. FBHVC is no different from any of its
subscriber organisations in this respect and is currently looking
for volunteers to become involved with international liaison
with a view to taking over when present incumbents retire in
the not too distant future. Interested? Please contact the secretary.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
26th July
Continuous Insurance
There has recently been a flurry of misinformed press comment
on the subject of “continuous insurance”. These
have been triggered by a misunderstanding of the intent of section
21 of the Road Safety Bill wending its way through parliament.
This section will make it an offence to be the keeper of a vehicle
that does not comply with insurance requirements: those requirements
will be specified more precisely in regulations that will follow
when the Bill has been enacted. We have been assured by Dr.
Stephen Ladyman, Minister of State for Transport, that there
will be no requirement for SORNed vehicles, or vehicles that
have been off the road before SORN was introduced, to be insured.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12th July
MP's at Beaulieu
At least two Members of Parliament will be attending this year’s
Beaulieu autojumble (9 & 10 September) as guests of FBHVC
President, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu. Labour MP Dr Stephen Ladyman,
who is Minister of State for Transport will be visiting together
with Greg Knight MP, the Conservative Chairman of the All Party
Parliamentary Historic Vehicles Group.
Lord Montagu and the MP's will be guests of FBHVC at a dinner
following a committee meeting at Beaulieu on Friday, 8 September.
FBHVC will have its usual stand adjacent to the Press tent and
committee members will be on hand to discuss problems with enthusiasts.
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10th July
Meguiar’s Car Enthusiast of the Year
Congratulations to Lord Montagu of Beaulieu on winning the 2006
Meguiar’s “Car Enthusiast of the Year” award.
The award will be presented at a dinner on 30 September. Meguiar’s
press release on the award said “Lord Montagu [is] active
in the national and international classic car scene, currently
serving as President for the Federation of British Historic
Vehicle Clubs …”
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02 / 05 / 06
New DVLA Consultation on Fees
At the end of April, DVLA published a document that combines
a summary of the responses it received to its 2004 consultation
on fees together with new proposals that again centre on "administration
fees". Click on the link below to view the document
http://www.dvla.gov.uk/public/Consultation.pdf
FBHVC will be studying the new
proposals with some care, but first reaction is relief that
the 2004 proposal to charge for SORN declarations that had so
many people so angry has not re-appeared.
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27 / 04 / 06
Drive It Day hi-jack.
Visitors to the Drive It Day page on this site during March
and the early part of April would have found this message:
Drive It Day (or Ride It Day as some prefer), is not a protest
against the EU or against fuel taxes or anything else - the
purpose of the day is to emphasise the size and importance of
the historic vehicle movement in this country. Road transport
is an area of our national heritage that is sadly neglected
by the general media with the result that the public know little
about what happens. Drive It Day is to put the historic vehicle
movement in front of the public - on the road - so people can
see the wonderful range of historic vehicles that we have in
this country.
Imagine our surprise, therefore, that the British National Party
should have reported (with a link to our site) that the "British
Historical Vehicle Club's" rally was a protest against
EU laws. Aside from refuting this, FBHVC wishes to make it clear
that it is not aligned to any particular political viewpoint
and is neither pro- nor anti-EU. FBHVC exists purely to uphold
the freedom to use historic vehicles on the road. It is also
worth pointing out that over the years, the historic vehicle
movement has had remarkable co-operation from EU in this endeavour.
For an example of the level of co-operation and respect in which
the historic vehicle movement is held, please see the first
item on page 2 of our newsletter 6/2005.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
24 / 04 / 06
" Drive It Day"
The weather was not as kind to us as it might have been, but
the roads of Britain certainly looked different on 23 April
with a tremendous response from enthusiasts up and down the
country to FBHVC's call to "Drive It" or "Ride
It" . Thank you all.
FBHVC plans that this day chould be a permanent feature of our
calendar and would be pleased to have feedback on the idea.
In particular, should we change the name to "Use It Day"
so it doesn't matter however many wheels "It" might
have? And should we stick with 23 April, a Monday next year,
so the encouragement will be for people to use their historics
for their daily business - or should we stick with the last
but one Sunday in April? Please e-mail the Secretary with your
views.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
24 / 03 / 06
Red Diesel
Enthusiasts for agricultural machines have been concerned about
HM Revenue & Customs moves to tighten up on the use of rebated
diesel or Red Diesel. FBHVC can find no evidence of any tightening
up of the regulations, but there may well be a move towards
stricter enforcement. The rules for the use of rebated fuels
are quite straightforward and are contained in HM R & C
notice 75 issued at the end of 2002. A simple summary is that
only machines registered and licensed as Agricultural Tractors
may use red diesel on the road, and they must be using the road
only incidentally to agricultural, horticultural or forestry
work. Any other tractor that is licensed must use full tax paid
fuel at all times.
More in FBHVC Newsletter 2/2006
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23 / 03 / 06
Sale of registration documents
The upsurge in popularity of e-Bay has seen large numbers of
old style log books being advertised for sale, often with the
implication that the documents might be used to obtain a period
registration number to give authenticity to a registrationless
rebuild. Nothing wrong with buying the log book as an interesting
historical document, but don't be surprised to find the registration
voided - DVLA officials have access to e-Bay, just like everyone
else. Some clever (devious?) souls have managed to go one stage
further and have obtained modern registration documents that
relate to vehicles that no longer exist: again, be warned, the
numbers will be voided if DVLA finds out, and those involved
face potential criminal charges.
Consultations
February and March have seen a much larger than usual number
of consultations from government departments.
For more details, see FBHVC Newsletter 2/2006
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06 / 02 / 06
London Low Emission Zone
At the end of January, Transport for London published their
expected consultation on proposals to create a "Low Emission
Zone" aimed at improving air quality in Greater London.
The proposals can be found at http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/low-emission-zone/default.asp
and include suggested measures to restrict (or at least discourage)
the use of older commercial vehicles. There are no proposals
to impose restrictions on the use of older cars or motor cycles
as it has been recognised that these make little contribution
to overall pollution levels. FBHVC's legislation team will be
looking at the proposals over the next few weeks.
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30 / 01 / 06
MoT tests for steam engines and tractors?
Some owners of steam engines and tractors that are classified
in the historic vehicle class have been asked to produce an
MoT when attempting to renew their nil rate tax discs at Post
Offices.
This first came to FBHVC’s attention just before Christmas
last year and was immediately raised with DVLA who were unaware
of the problem. It has taken some time to establish what has
gone wrong. The explanation is that it seems the data transmitted
by the DVLA system to the Post Office system has been programmed
incorrectly to cater for licensing applications for MoT exempt
vehicles in the historic taxation class, so it is likely this
problem will also extend to pre-1960 testing-exempt lorries.
The problem is that although
the V11 form for renewing tax is produced correctly, when the
Post Office operator scans in the bar code on the V11, the data
provided to the Post Office system says that an MoT is required,
thus discouraging the Post Office from issuing the disc. Because
DVLA has a freeze on amendments to its computer system, which
is currently being up-dated, it will not be possible to correct
this error in the immediate future, so tractor, lorry and steam
vehicle owners need to be aware of the problem - and how to
get round it with minimum inconvenience.
The simplest thing to do is
to sign either form V112 or V112G – these are declarations
that the vehicle referred to is exempt from MoT / good vehicle
testing respectively. The forms are very simple and are available
from any Post Office which handles motor vehicle licensing.
They can also be downloaded from the web at
http://www.dvla.gov.uk/forms/frms_vehicles.htm If the appropriate
form is presented at the Post Office counter in lieu of an MoT
certificate, the clerk can proceed to issue the tax disc. If
difficulties are still experienced, the clerk should be asked
to ring the Post Office Helpline.
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20 / 01 / 06
New insurance scheme for FBHVC clubs
FBHVC has negotiated with international insurance brokers, Willis
Limited, a new scheme for Liability Insurance for FBHVC subscriber
clubs. Before your club’s insurance renewal is due, we
suggest you obtain a quote from the new scheme before renewing
your old cover.
The scheme is due to be launched on 1 February 2006 and is underwritten
by AIG Europe (UK) Limited. It has been created in response
to concerns expressed by many subscriber clubs that the cost
of public liability insurance was becoming prohibitively expensive.
All policies under the scheme will expire on 31 January each
year, so initial premiums will be calculated on a pro-rata basis.
In outline, the benefits of
the new FBHVC scheme are:-
Premiums for £5,000,000
Public Liability Cover as low as £95 plus IPT for the
smallest clubs, rising to £570 plus IPT for a club of
600 members with larger clubs being individually rated.
Availability of Product Liability cover (minimum premium for
this section is £500 plus IPT);
Modest minimum premiums for other “add on” sections
Employers’ Liability at £50 for up to five paid
employees, plus £10 per paid employee thereafter.
Building and office contents cover at a modest minimum premium.
Further options include: Health and Safety; Libel and Slander;
Professional Indemnity; Directors and Officers Liability; Key
Protection; Travel; Money; Personal Accident.
Simple proposal form.
Proposal forms will be distributed
to all club main contacts shortly – please e-mail the
secretary if you haven’t had one and would like one.
Please note that under Financial
Services Authority regulations, FBHVC is unable to make any
recommendations about insurance. It is up to individual member
clubs to ensure that the insurance cover they take out is suitable
for their activity. FBHVC will not be receiving any commission
from either Willis Limited or AIG Europe (UK) Limited.
FBHVC wishes to thank Eric Jones
of the Austin Seven Clubs’ Association for his immensely
valuable groundwork, without which this scheme would not have
come in to being.
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15 / 01 / 06
FBHVC de-coke
Older engines generally benefit from a thorough overhaul, and
that is just what the FBHVC committee has embarked upon for
itself. Instead of a routine business meeting, the committee
spent a weekend in January reviewing, analysing and discussing
FBHVC's structure, aims and objectives. The last such review
took place some seven years ago. Avoiding too much distraction
from the fascinating archive and library of the Vintage Motor
Cycle Club, where the meeting took place, and with the help
of Lyndon Shearman, an independent facilitator, several points
for future action were identified. A programme of development
aimed at reinforcing FBHVC's position at the hub of the historic
vehicle movement, and thus ensuring that FBHVC is able to continue
to "uphold the freedom" to use historic vehicles is
now underway
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2 / 12 / 05
Misplaced Panic
Several organs of the historic vehicle press have majored on
small elements of a DVLA report that was published earlier this
autumn and have created unnecessary worry and concern when none
need exist. They have also described existing guidelines (that
have been in place for around ten years) on registration of
modified and rebuilt vehicles as if they were something new.
Those guidelines can be found at http://www.dvla.gov.uk/vehicles/regrebil.htm
DVLA undertook a consultation last year on the various vehicle
inspections that are relevant to vehicle registration procedures.
The consultation was an examination of the value and effectiveness
of those inspections and although it proposed no changes, it
did invite suggestions for improvement etc. DVLA recently published
a report on the responses it received. The report contains recommendations
for further consideration - these are NOT recommendations for
action. The time to panic is when the further consideration
(which will include consultation) turns into a proposal for
action that will have an adverse effect - FBHVC would expect
that reasoned argument would prevent reaching that stage.
Some of the matters that have
been recommended for further consideration include tightening
up inspection and registration procedures for re-constructed
classics. That would not affect classics that are currently
registered and which are being rebuilt to (or close to) original
specification, but might affect the ability of someone who has
created a vehicle from many different sources to obtain a new
registration without either having a Q plate or having the registration
records annotated appropriately.
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22 / 11 / 05
FIVA/FBHVC Survey of the Historic Vehicle Movement in Europe
Survey forms have been flooding in to FBHVC over the last couple
of months and with another six weeks to go, a return of between
12 and 15% is expected which will give the analysts much greater
confidence in their results than is usual in such exercises.
If you haven't completed a survey form - please do so now: your
club should have sent you one. And if your club hasn't sent
you one ... it might be worth asking why!
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21 / 11 / 05
Violent Crime Reduction Bill
Well, yes - we are all in favour of anything that will reduce
crime, whether it be violent or otherwise, but there are times
when the legislators go over the top. Measures in the first
draft of this Bill aimed at controlling the manufacture, sale
and use of imitation/de-activated weapons would have made it
impossible to display a preserved military vehicle carrying
a de-activated weapon in public. Pressure from many quarters
(including FBHVC) persuaded the Home Office that their original
proposals were excessive and the Bill was amended to take de-activated
weapons out of the controls.
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21 / 11 / 05
MoT Re-Test Fees
VOSA has announced it is proposing that from next August the
fee structure for MoT tests will be changed to allow a half-price
re-test for a vehicle that has been removed from an MoT testing
station for repair after failure, provided the re-test takes
place before the end of the tenth working day after the original
test. At present, if a vehicle is removed from a testing station
for repair to anything other than a trivial fault, the tester
is obliged to carry out a full re-test, for which he is entitled
to charge a full fee.
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5 / 11 / 05
Some good news from the House of Lords
During the course of committee discussion on the Road Safety
Bill in the House of Lords on 26 October, Earl Attlee proposed
an amendment that would require the UK government to have regard
to the need to avoid retrospective legislation concerning the
construction and use of historic vehicles when negotiating with
the European Union. The amendment was supported by Lord Montagu,
FBHVC President, Lord Berkeley (owner of a 1931 Lagonda), and
Viscount Simon.
The good news comes from the reply given by Government Whip,
Baroness Crawley, who stated that the government would not expect
any suggestion for retrospective application of technical standards
to vehicles unless there were exceptional reasons and commented
that it was difficult to envisage any such circumstances in
view of the relatively small number of historic vehicles that
are in use. [Full report in issue 6/2005 Newsletter due for
publication at 1 December]
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13 / 10 / 05
Relief for autojumblers - at least temporarily
John Whittingdale, MP, the sponsor of the Private Members' Bill
to introduce regulation governing occasional sales, has agreed
to accept an amendment that would take autojumbles out of the
scope of his Bill. The request was made by Greg Knight MP, Chairman
of the All Party Parliamentary Historic Vehicle Group. It is
understood that Mr Whittingdale's primary concern is to limit
the scope for the sale of counterfeit goods, especially CDs
and music tapes. The Bill is due to receive its second reading
during October.
The spectre of the impending Home Office consultation on the
possible extension of the Kent Act remains.
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4 / 10 / 05
New insurance requirements announced
On Friday, 30 September, Road Safety Minister, Dr Stephen Ladyman,
announced proposals to make it an offence to own a car which
is neither insured nor registered as off the road. This means
that if a vehicle is licensed, it must be insured - or if it
is not insured, the keeper must have declared SORN before the
insurance expired. The measures have been tabled as amendments
to the Road Safety Bill that is currently wending its way through
Parliament and are expected to come into force later this year.
This follows a consultation on monitoring continuous motor insurance
from the record that closed in February this year. FBHVC is
checking to ensure that owners of vehicles that have been off
the road since before the introduction of SORN will not be affected.
