§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what revenue he received from the road fund licence for each of the last five years; and to what extent the rise and/or fall in these amounts is due to the number of vehicles on the road, the number of new licences applied for, and the number avoiding payment of this duty, respectively.
§ Mr. MacDermotThe information in respect of the first three of my hon. Friend's questions is as follows: it is impossible to answer the fourth:
Revenue from vehicle excise licence duties in the last five Financial years £ million 1961–62 141 1962–63 152.5 1963–64 171.1 1964–65 186.8 1965–66 234.9 Apart from the last year, when there were Budget increases in the rates of duty, the steady increase throughout the five year period is wholly a reflection of the increasing numbers of vehicles using the roads.
New registrations Year ending 31st December 1961 1,258,162 1962 1,192,306 1963 1,466,033 1964 1,711,175 1965 1,600,726