Mine just had its MOT test yesterday.

Quite a change from last year, the garage guy was telling me: all the instrumentation is now connected up on line to the relevant authorities, brake efficiency and emission data goes straight to wherever (DVLA Swansea, I think) and they control whether or not the certificate gets issued, updating the Police National Computer in real time.

Big Brother-ish I grant you, but it could keep quite a few un-roadworthy vehicles out of circulation, which can be no bad thing IMO.