§ Colonel DAYasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury how many 56W licences have been granted for the use of armorial bearings on carriages or otherwise for the 12 months ended to the last convenient date; whether any prosecutions have been taken against any persons for failure to take out licences for the use of armorial bearings during this period; and with what result?
§ Mr. McNEILLThe total number of licences for the use of armorial bearings taken out for the year ended the 31st March, 1926 (the latest date for which figures are at present available), was 37,480, of which 5,532 were at the higher rate of £2 2s. for the use of armorial bearings on carriages, and 31,948 at the lower rate of £1 1s. for use otherwise than on carriages. The duties in question are not Imperial but local taxation duties, and I have no information as to any prosecutions that may have been instituted by the county councils and county borough councils who administer the duties in England and Wales. No prosecutions have been instituted in Scotland, where the duties are administered by the Customs and Excise Department.