§ Mr. Fryasked the Secretary of State for Transport what has been the total value of (a) motorway and trunk road maintenance work and (b) motorway and trunk road construction for each of the past five financial years; and for each year, what is the proportion of work going to private contractors and to direct labour organisations.
§ Mr. HoramThe information for England is as follows
months, in view of the decision, which he announced on 21 November, to abolish vehicle excise duty.
§ Mr. William RodgersNo. No one will gain by switching to four-monthly licences. We shall give good notice before the rundown in vehicle excise duty begins and we shall so arrange matters that anyone who takes out a 12-month licence gets the benefit of any reduction in the rate during the period covered. To take an example, if it was decided to reduce the annual rate of vehicle excise by £12 from a certain date, then a licence issued eleven months before that date would cost £1 less, a licence 10 months before that date £2 less, and so on. People who take out four-monthly licences will have to pay the full rate until shortly before the changeover. So three four-monthly licences one after the other will be no cheaper than one 12-month licence. Indeed, they will be more expensive because of the 10 per cent. surcharge which they carry.