i just checked the M.O.T... according to the advisory sheet it says front exhaust heat shield insecure!....yet when the shield came loose when i was driving to work last year,it was a long weird shaped piece of thin like aliminum..! according to a garage who i rang they reckon they disitigrate eventually anyway so god knows! i'm a lady driver who's a worrier lol
that sounds like the front one under the bonnet? if its that one then its not needed.