§ Mr. Snapeasked the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will ensure that the vehicle excise fee for heavy goods vehicles will be paid at the time a heavy goods vehicle registration number is allocated;
(2) what evidence he has of evasion of vehicle excise duty payments for heavy goods vehicles arising from his Department's current practice of allocating heavy goods vehicle registration numbers prior to any payment of road tax.
§ Mr. Michael SpicerA registration number is assigned by the Department to a vehicle only when the appropriate excise duty has been paid. However, to allow new vehicles to be put on the road as quickly as possible certain accredited motor dealers receive advance notification of numbers for use in connection with the vehicles they sell. There is no evidence of any widespread evasion of vehicle excise duty as a result of this system, but if dealers misuse their advance allocation of numbers the facility is normally immediately withdrawn and other appropriate enforcement action taken.