§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware of the considerable loss of income incurred by many thousands of persons using vehicles on the road without paying their road excise licence; whether he will discuss with the responsible authorities the strict enforcement of the law concerning the payment of this licence money and ensure that to prove that licence-applied-for labels are in order they will only be valid where they are stamped by the appropriate licensing authority to this effect.
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§ Mr. Tom FraserI am naturally concerned about any evasion of vehicle excise duty, whatever the amount. I am in continuing touch with my right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary and with the local authorities responsible for this part of the Excise law about measures to make enforcement as effective as possible. Enforcement activity is, generally, increasing, but it necessarily depends a great deal on the amount of time which the police can devote to observation. So far as the Metropolitan police area is concerned, new procedures were introduced recently. "Licence52W applied for" labels have no statutory significance.