§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will take steps to amend the motor licensing laws in order to stop it being an offence to have a road duty licence wrongly positioned, provided that it is shown on the front windscreen of a vehicle.
§ Dr. GilbertSome control over the positioning of licences is necessary to avoid hampering the police and traffic wardens who need to be able to see them readily and to ensure that they do not impede drivers' visibility. I am, however, considering varying the position as at present prescribed.
§ Mr. Stephen Rossasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what have been the administrative costs of issuing car licences for each year since 1970.
§ Mr. CarmichaelThe total administrative costs of the issue of excise licences for all vehicles registered in Great Britain were as follows
- 1970–71, £8.2 million (at 1974–75 prices £13: 6 million).
- 1971–72 £11.6 million (at 1974–75 prices £17.1 million).
- 1972–73 £14.7 million (at 1974–75 prices £21.4 million).
- 1973–74 £17.4 million (at 1974–75 prices £24.6 million).
- 1974–75 £26.3 million.
The annual costs attributable to the new centralised system of vehicle licensing have been included in these figures: in 1974–75, they amounted to £7.7 million over the years in question, the vehicle population rose from 15 million to 18 million.
§ Mr. Stephen Rossasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many prosecutions have been made in each year since 1970 for failure to pay the car 710W licence fee; and what has been the cost of bringing these prosecutions.
§ Mr. CarmichaelThe number of prosecutions relating to non-payment of excise duty in relation to all vehicles—records relating solely to cars are not kept separately—is as follows:
1970 157,866 1971 150,521 1972 160,321 1973 156,162 1974 142,905 Since 1971 there has been a consistent annual rise in the number of cases settled without prosecution under the mitigated penalty system.
Records of prosecution costs incurred by the Department are not kept separately given that these costs are an integral part of the total cost of enforcing the payment of vehicle excise duty.