8In section 89 of the 1988 Act (tests of competence to drive)—
(a)in subsection (4), at the end of paragraph (a) there shall be inserted the words “, in the case of prescribed classes of goods vehicle, loaded or unloaded as may be prescribed and, if requirements as respects loading are prescribed, loaded in accordance with the requirements”;
(b)in subsection (6)—
(i)for the words “(1)(a) above”, where first occurring, there shall be substituted the words “(1)(a)(iii) above or section 89A(2)(b)(iii) below”,
(ii)in paragraph (b), for the word “any” where it first occurs there shall be substituted the word “all”, and
(iii)after paragraph (b) there shall be inserted the following paragraph—
“, and
(c)vehicles of all classes included in another such group, if a person passing the test is treated by virtue of regulations made for the purposes of this paragraph as competent also to drive vehicles of a class included in that other group.”;
(c)in subsection (7), for the words from “(1)(b) to authorise” to “in the group” there shall be substituted “(1)(b)(i) above or section 89A(4)(a) below to authorise the driving of—
(a)vehicles of all classes included in the group, and
(b)vehicles of all classes included in another such group, if a person holding the licence is treated by virtue of regulations as competent also to drive vehicles of a class included in that other group”;
(d)in subsection (8), for the word “category” in both places where it occurs, there shall be substituted the word “class”; and
(e)for subsection (9), there shall be substituted the following subsections—
“(9)A test of competence falling within paragraphs (a)(ii), (c) or (e) of subsection (1) above shall be sufficient for the granting of a licence authorising the driving of—
(a)vehicles of all classes designated by regulations as a group for the purposes of subsection (1)(a) above, if at the time the test was passed it authorised the granting of a licence to drive vehicles of any class included in the group, or of any class corresponding to a class included in the group, and
(b)vehicles of all classes included in another such group, if a person passing a test of competence authorising the granting of a licence to drive vehicles of a class included in the group mentioned in paragraph (a) above is treated by virtue of regulations as competent also to drive vehicles of a class included in that other group.
(10)A full Northern Ireland licence, a full British external licence, a full British Forces licence or an exchangeable licence shall be treated for the purposes of paragraphs (b)(ii), (d) or (f) (as the case may be) of subsection (1) above as authorising the driving of—
(a)vehicles of all classes designated by regulations as a group for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) above, if the licence authorises the driving of vehicles of any class included in the group, or any class corresponding to a class included in the group, and
(b)vehicles of all classes included in another such group, if by virtue of regulations a person holding a licence authorising him to drive vehicles of any class included in the group mentioned in paragraph (a) above is treated as competent also to drive vehicles of a class included in that other group.
(11)In this section “designated country or territory” means a country or territory designated under section 108(2) of this Act for the purposes of the definition of exchangeable licence and in this section and section 89A “the appointed day” means the day appointed for the coming into force of section 1 of the Road Traffic (Driver Licensing and Information Systems) Act 1989.”