The Forum, an informal consortium of motor trade bodies with MoT testing stations in their membership and other interested parties, has contacted the Department for Transport raising serious concerns over the continuing delay in issuing a consultation review dealing with the future of the MoT.

The MOT Trade Forum believes that three years on, any further uncertainty is totally unacceptable. Chairman Jim Punter said: “Government should either publish the consultation now or drop the two-yearly MoT Test proposal altogether and announce that the MoT test will remain unchanged.”

And in a warning to Government that moving away from an annual MoT could impact on road safety, Mr Punter said: “It is no coincidence that European road accident trends indicate that countries with annual tests also have lower deaths and injuries caused by road accidents. A change to two-yearly testing will inevitably result in a significant increase in deaths and serious injuries on Britain’s roads.”

The renewal of photocard licences is an issue that has already been raised by Jaama, which earlier this year urged fleet decision-makers to check the validity of all at-work drivers’ licences.

The first photocard driving licences were issued in July 1998 and they remain valid for 10 years.

However, a total of 16,136 licences have now expired, but figures from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency reveal that so far only 11,566 drivers have renewed, leaving 4,570 outstanding.

The cost of renewing a photocard driving licence is £17.50 and a failure to hold a valid driving licence could mean a £1,000 fine.

A further 300,000 photocard driving licences are due to expire over the next 12 months with around 25 million having been issued to date.

However, many drivers with lapsed licences will be unaware that they are breaking the law because the photocard licences do not display the expiry date clearly.

Importantly, a company that allows an employee to drive a vehicle without a valid licence is also liable to prosecution. It would also invalidate insurance.

Jaama says that licence checking should be the most obvious basic risk management first step for all businesses as they get to grips with ever-tougher legislation targeted at improving driver safety and removing dangerous drivers from the UK’s roads.

A DVLA spokesman said the organisation had written to all motorists informing them that their photocard driving licence was due to expire.