§ 2.35 p.m.
§ THE EARL OF KINNOULLMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the present annual cost of operating detector vans to track down television licence evasion, and by how much this cost is likely to go up when the fleet of vans is increased, as recently announced by the Postmaster General.]
§ LORD SORENSENMy Lords, about £75,000, which will rise to £150,000 when the fleet is doubled.
§ THE EARL OF KINNOULLMy Lords, I thank the noble Lord for that reply. Would he not agree that this form of collecting taxes is setting a thoroughly bad precedent?
§ LORD SORENSENMy Lords, I understand that the equation of the cost of the fleet of vans to what is produced is about 27 per cent., which means therefore that there is a profit of about 73 per cent. on the investment, which I think is quite good. No doubt this is also of benefit to those who desire to pay their taxes.
LORD INGLEWOODMy Lords, since there is said to be something like £10 millions worth of revenue not collected, can the noble Lord tell us how long he thinks it will be, bearing in mind the figure he has given us, before all the licences due will be paid?
§ LORD SORENSENMy Lords, I am afraid there will always be a certain number of unfortunate citizens who do not perform their duties; but progress is being made.
§ LORD FRASER OF LONSDALEMy Lords, while I thoroughly support the efforts to get the money in and to thwart the tax evader, may I ask the noble Lord whether there are any technical means by which a van can tell whether or not a licence has been paid?
§ A NOBLE LORD: This is a technical question.
§ LORD SORENSENI am reminded by my colleague that this is a technical question. Nevertheless, I would say that there are available means by which the presence of certain sets can be detected, and then, of course, investigation can be made to see whether the owner of the set has paid the tax.
§ LORD WAKEFIELD OF KENDALMy Lords, why do the Government not require dealers in broadcasting sets not to sell a set until a licence has been purchased? The noble Lord will be aware that the wired broadcasting companies have to be quite sure, before they make a connection to a customer, that the customer has a television licence. Why cannot dealers in new or secondhand sets be required to ensure that their customers have a licence? In this way, many millions of pounds which is badly needed by the B.B.C. could be collected.
§ LORD SORENSENMy Lords, I thank the noble Lord for that suggestion. In fact, it has been considered and I understand that some announcement will be made about this in due course.