§ Mr. Giles Shawasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will amend Section 8 of the Vehicle (Excise) Act 1971 so that people who apply to the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Centre for a road fund licence from or before the expiration of the expired licence, but who are unable to receive the licence within 14 days of the expiration of the expired licence, are not prosecuted under Section 8(1) of the Vehicle (Excise) Act 1971 on the grounds that they have no defence as required by Section 8(2)(c) of that Act.
§ Mr. MarksNo. Section 8(2) of the Act has not yet been activated, and there is no prosecution under Section 8(1) for unlicensed use of a vehicle if application for licence renewal has been made within 14 days of the expiry of a previous licence.
§ Mr. Giles Shawasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many queries concerning out-of-date road fund licences have been received for each of the last six months by the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Centre from local or other authorities considering prosecutions under Section 8 of the Vehicles (Excise) Act 1971.
§ Mr. MarksLocal and other authorities, considering prosecutions under Section 8 of the Act, act as agents of the Secretary of State but usually have no cause to make inquiries of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre in this respect.
§ Mr. Giles Shawasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many prosecutions have been brought during the last year under Section 8 of the Vehicles (Excise) Act 1971; and how many of these have been successful.
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§ Mr. MarksFigures for 1975 are not yet available, but in 1974 there were 142,905 prosecutions. I understand that the vast majority—say, over 95 per cent.—of these prosecutions were successful, but I cannot provide precise details.