§ Mr. Rossiasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the cost to his Department of presenting to the courts cases for non-payment of road fund licence in the past year; and if he has made any estimate of the overall cost to local authorities of presenting such cases to the courts.
§ Mr. MarksProsecution costs incurred by the Department are not recorded separately as they are an integral part of the total cost of enforcing the payment of vehicle excise duty. Neither is any record kept of the cost to local authorities, though all costs incurred by local authorities as motor taxation agents of216W the Secretary of State are reimbursed by the Department.
§ Mr. Rossiasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many cases of non-payment of road fund licence appeared in local magistrates' courts each month on average over the last year; how many court working days were taken up by such cases; what was the cost to the taxpayer in processing such cases through the courts; and what was the percentage of successful recovery of road tax due from such cases.
§ Mr. MarksStatistics for 1975 are not yet available. During 1974 the number of cases averaged 11,742 a month. No records are kept of the number of court working days taken up by such cases or of the cost of processing them. Back duty was claimed in 116,742 cases; and the courts ordered payments totalling £866,639 in 107,540—i.e., over 91 per cent.—of these cases.