§ Mr. HOLMESasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport 2032W the number of mechanically propelled road vehicles of different classes, i.e., cars taxed on horse-power, motor cycles, commercial goods vehicles, motor hackneys, etc., on which Licence Duty was collected in the months of December, 1921, and January, February, March, and April, 1922, respectively; the total duty paid by each of the various classes of road vehicles during the said period; the number of annual, quarterly, or short-period licences issued, respectively; the total sum now standing to the credit of the Road Fund; the amounts actually paid out of the Road Fund to local authorities during the year 1921, and during January, February, March, and April, 1922; the amounts allocated to local authorities in respect of the financial year ending 31st December, 1922; and the estimated grants from the Road Fund for road maintenance expenditure during the financial year ending 31st December, 1922?
§ Mr. NEALA statement, of which I am sending my hon. Friend a copy, has been furnished to the Press, showing the number of annual and quarterly licences issued, and the amount of duty collected, on account of each taxation category of vehicle, for the three months December, 1921, January and February, 1922. The information for March and April is not yet completely available. The statement referred to does not show the figures for each month separately, nor does it distinguish the number of short-period licences. The extraction of these further details would involve a great deal of time and labour, and I hope my hon. Friend will not press for them. The total sum standing to the credit of the Road Fund on 30th April, 1922, was £15,875,420, of which £856,000 represented outstanding loans made to highway authorities. The payments from the fund during the periods mentioned in the question were as follow:
£ During the year 1921 … 9,600,762 During January, 1922 … 947,929 During February, 1922 … 1,307,601 During March, 1922 … 1,597,056 During April, 1922 … 635,620 On 31st March, 1922, the end of the financial year, there were outstanding commitments amounting to £11,365,000, of which £2,770,000 represented the balance of grants towards the cost of maintenance of Class I and Class II 2033W roads in respect of the financial year 1921–22. The remaining commitments were chiefly on account of road works expedited for the relief of unemployment and on account of grants made in previous years which have not yet been fully paid up. The allocation for the financial year ending 31st March, 1923, towards the cost of maintenance of Class I and Class II roads, and for other purposes, is still under consideration.