§ Sir Gerard VaughanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what checks are made to ensure that all vehicles on the road have valid vehicle excise duty licences;
(2) what procedures are followed if a vehicle is found on the road without a valid current vehicle excise duty licence.
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§ Mr. Peter LloydPolice officers and traffic wardens support regular enforcement campaigns run by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. Police officers and traffic wardens also routinely report the details of parked vehicles displaying either invalid vehicle excise duty—VED—licences or none at all to the DVLA which checks whether VED offences have been committed and takes any enforcement action required. Where other motoring offences have also been detected all offences are generally processed by the police.
§ Sir Gerard VaughanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what penalties are applicable to a person convicted of owning or keeping a motor vehicle on the road without a valid motor vehicle excise duty licence.
§ Mr. Peter LloydA person convicted under section 8 of the Vehicles (Excise) Act 1971 of the offence of using or keeping on a public road a motor vehicle without a valid excise duty licence is liable to a maximum penalty of a fine of up to £400 or five times the annual duty chargeable for the vehicle, whichever is greater. In addition the payment of any back duty which is owing is recoverable by court order at the same time. The maximum fine for the offence is to be increased to £1,000 later this year.