Get the MOT Tester to do the emissions check first, and give it a good 30/45 minute drive on dual carriageways/motorways if you can to get the cat/exhaust as hot as it is going to get, and all the sensors to be fully functioning as they should as well. Allowing it to idle, even when showing the temp probably isn't enough to get it through a PASS, where as a good "Italian tune up" more often than not is the difference between a pass and a fail, especially as it's only a small bit out. Do you have a copy of the emissions sheet you could post up?