§ I come now to changes in taxation, and I propose first to deal with changes which, though of importance in themselves, are of no great consequence to the Exchequer from the revenue point of view. In the first place, I have to deal with the Petrol Tax and the contribution of motors towards the development and upkeep of the roads. Last year I explained to the Committee fully the objections to the present Petrol Tax, and I will not repeat them now. Since then a Committee appointed by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport, of a very representative character, has been investigating the subject, and their Report has been laid before Parliament. The principle on which their new proposals are based is that road users should make a substantial contribution towards the cost both of the maintenance and improvement of the roads. The Committee support the objection which I expressed to the tax on motor fuel, and they recommend that a licence duty on motor vehicles should take its place. We propose substantially to adopt the recommendations of the Committee, but the new tax cannot be brought into force until 1st January next. I, therefore, propose to continue the existing motor car tax and the motor spirit duty until the 31st day of December next, when they will be superseded by the new tax.
I estimate that the Revenue from the existing taxes up to the 31st December will be £2,750,000, and that the yield of the new duties up to 31st March next will be £4,500,000. This gives a total Revenue for the current year of £7,250,000. From this there must be deducted £600,000 in respect of a prior lien already enjoyed by the local authorities, but I do not propose to claim any share of this taxation for the 83 Exchequer. There will therefore be a net Revenue for the Road Fund this year, if our proposals are adopted, of £6,650,000. In a full year the new taxation should yield £9,000,000 which, after the same deduction, should leave £8,400,000 for the Road Fund. It is proposed to submit legislation in due course extending the Road Improvement Fund Act so as to enable maintenance grants to be made from the proceeds of the new taxation. The Minister of Transport, who will be responsible for supervising the levying and collection of the taxes, and also for the spending of the money, will be prepared to give to the Committee at a later stage full details of the proposed legislation, and to answer any inquiries which may be addressed to him.