Council 'no choice' but to close public MOT service (From Enfield Independent)

Council 'no choice' but to close public MOT service

11:00am Thursday 2nd August 2012 in News By Hermione Wright

Enfield Council has announced it has “no choice” but to close a subsidised public MOT service next month due to Government funding cuts.

The council will close the service in Carterhatch Depot in Melling Drive, Forty Hill, which costs £27,000 each year, from September 28.

Cutting the service will contribute to the £200,000 of savings it aims to make in its waste, parks and passenger transport service.

The popular service ran 1,398 MOTs between the financial year of 2011 and 2012.

The council has been forced to make £69million of savings between the financial years of 2010 to 2011 and 2014 to 2015 due to cuts from central Government.

The service also buys and maintains vehicles for Enfield Council’s fleet which include refuse, recycling and transport for people with disabilities.

However, this section of the scheme will remain open and will not be affected by the closure.

Enfield Council's cabinet member for environment, Councillor Chris Bond, said: "Year on year we have to save significant sums of money because of unprecedented levels of government spending cuts while protecting the vital front line services our residents rely on and deserve such as transportation for disabled people.

"We know the MOT service is valued by residents but the reality is we cannot continue to offer a service to the public that makes a significant loss each year because retaining it puts extra pressure on other service areas.

"The reality is that we don't want to stop offering this service, but we have no choice but to do so because of the huge savings we have to make at the moment."

The subsidised service costs £54.50 for cars and light vans, £59.50 for minibuses with 13 to 16 seats as well as brake tests for £20.