It’s not an MOT but an inspection
You can conduct it yourself but you best be a qualified mechanic/mot tester for that class of vehicle etc.
Much better to make friends with your local garage that covers the class of MOT for your vehicle and make a deal to do them. Inspections aren’t as intensive as an MOT so costs can be kept down.
Also it doesn’t have to be done every 10 weeks. You can decide to do it more regularly or less regularly than 10 weeks depending on age/use.
workaround - keep it in use.
I would say, that our SOV is well within that limit, at least monthly, 10 weeks is almost three months.
If a Sqn is not using a SOV for 1/4 of the year - do they even need one??
10 weeks is 5 checks a year.
1 of these is the MOT
1 could be the Annual Service.
So it’s only 3 extra checks.
If that’s the Gov & RAFAC guidance, I’d be following it, else if heaven forbid there was an accident it would be the DDH in court not me as I’d followed the approved RA
Never mind an accident.
You get pulled by VOSA and have a serious maintenance issue they will come and inspect your maintenance records and if they are found lacking then it’s squeaky bum time.
It’s not an MOT, you’re correct. But reading that document, it sounds like HQAC require/expect the inspection to be of an equivalent standard:
“Safety Inspections must include those items covered by the appropriate Department for Transport (DfT), annual test. It’s vital that safety critical items e.g. braking systems, are checked regularly.”
The may not demand 10 weekly inspections, but it would seem that our policy may:
“RAFAC policy is that the organisation must follow the DVSA recommendation regarding inspections and they should be carried out at least every 10 weeks.”
And that’s for buses less than 12 years old. In which case it’s suggested that you make it 6 weeks.
The DVSA have the same requirement. But as there isn’t a standard charge like MOTs have, inspections are normally cheaper.
Baring in mind you must have a written agreement with the garage conducting the inspections you can normally get a preferential rate as they are guaranteed your work.
I hate the fact that HQAC copy/paste government guidance without any thought to it’s application. The real world has different timings for inspections based on age/use and it’s perfectly acceptable. Saying 10 weeks is dangerous for some SOVs and a complete waste of money for others.
TBH who actually needs a SOV; all the outgoings for minimal usage. 
So, go on them, what’s the average usage a year, how many times. Against that goes tax, insurance, MOT, fuel, limitations on drivers, general upkeep. Now RAFAC telling you what to do and when.
Or look at it another way, what’s the cost of a hired minibus over a weekend a couple of time a year. Or even getting a vehicle out of your parent station or Clarity.
Almost invariably, it’s not cost - it’s time. The time to pick the vehicle up and return it after - compounded if the hire place is a decent drive away.
Clarity is essentially the same - it’s the time and faff associated with collecting and returning.
In my part of the world, minibuses are organised by WHQ (very few SOVs around here), delivered to the driver’s front door, keys posted through the letterbox, and picked up at a mutually convenient time - so not even a need to go to the Sqn if not necessary!
Some WHQs won’t allow that delivery option… there is an extra charge of circa £10 per hire which is totally worth it for reduced driver hours.
Yay… a 2 hour drive just to pick up a bus, then 2 hours back to Sqn, then off to where you’re going…
No thanks!
Not everyone lives 2 hours from their parent station
No, some live 4 hours drive away
^^^^this…
the last handful times I drove the SOV personally it was to visit the local RAeS Branch and take part in their monthly talks.
i can turn up at Squadron, jump in the bus with my passengers and I am off.
hiring would make the event not viable or require multiple personal vehicles…
i accept that Parade evening use is unusal, but as we have it, we use it. likewise shipping the cadets to our “local area” - the “green space” in our compound could be covered by a dinner plate with an additional plant in the COs office - we go the other side of town to the woods and use the bus to get everyone there and back again…
Those WExOs who make arbitrary rules like that (when plenty of others don’t) massively annoy me.
To be fair, I think in the case of white fleet, they are trying to control costs, and get the best value for the public purse. It may only be £10 per delivery, but that will add up throughout the year, and you could potentially get more hires from the money saved.
It’s always better value for money if you use all of that free volunteer time instead.
Whilst I do understand the need to control public money and ensure value for money, it shouldn’t always trump a reasonable justification.
And to my mind, an extra couple of hours time onto a weekend faffing about picking up and returning a vehicle is probably worth £20.
i wouldn’t say that is a Wing specific rule.
the “out of hours” delivery is the issue. or at least how it was explained to me once when I tried booking white fleet.
there was an occasion it was useful to have the vehicle the Friday night before - convinced it would go through if i accepted vehicle on the Saturday (as the Friday night was an necessary extra cost) - i get home from work and the vehicle is sat on the drive! delivered in working hours rather than early “out of hours” on the Saturday"
there is an extra cost involved everywhere and hire company providers will try
I think there are probably several different issues:
Where i’m from they use Thrifty or SHB. They don’t charge an out of hours fee and delivery is about £4 (it’s on the paperwork we get with the vehicles). They almost always deliver a day or two before though if it’s for a weekend.