§ Mr. Kelleyasked the Secretary of State for Transport what response there has been to his announcements on 16th February and 8th March that the Government would be refunding part of the vehicle excise duty paid by those who were misled by a reminder form at the time of the Budget Statement on 29th March 1977; and whether he is now in a position to make an estimate of the likely cost of the repayments and of the administration of the scheme.
§ Mr. William RodgersUp to this morning, we had received 115,000 requests for claim forms. More may come before 7th April, the closing date for asking for forms. I cannot make any very accurate estimate of total costs until we have received and verified a representative number of claims. But at the present rate of application it seems possible that562W repayments will be around £1 million. The costs of advertising, publicity and administration are likely to add about 25 per cent. to that figure.