HC Deb 22 July 1966 vol 732 cc167-8W
Mr. Jopling

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give details of the agreements which have been made in the past between the County Council's Association and Her Majesty's Customs and Excise to revise the procedure for granting exemptions from duty for sheepdogs.

Mr. MacDermot

I am not aware of any such agreements, though representations have been made that the procedure should be simplified. If the Local Government Bill now before the House become law, sheepdogs will be exempt from licensing.

Mr. Jopling

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the cost each year of granting exemptions from duty for sheepdogs in the county of Westmorland: and how many exemptions were granted in 1965.

Mr. MacDermot

1,603 in 1964, the latest year for which figures are available, at a cost of about £600 in terms of loss of licence fees. To this must be added the administrative cost, which cannot be accurately quantified, of granting the exemptions.