§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to reduce road tax evasion. [9894]
§ Mr. NorrisA number of initiatives are planned. A scheme to wheel clamp vehicles for excise duty offences will be introduced in London shortly. Measures to improve the quality of the national vehicle record to make it more difficult for motorists to drop out of the licensing system are being developed. Use of camera technology to automate the detection of offence is also being taken forward.
§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to improve the procedures for road tax evasion reporting by police and traffic wardens. [9895]
§ Mr. NorrisThe Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency receives more than 1.5 million excise offence reports annually for enforcement action from the police and traffic wardens and other sources.
The recent study by the National Audit Office on vehicle excise duty on evasion and enforcement reported that some offence reports received were of poor quality and could not be successfully pursued. The exact number of these is unclear since precise figures are not available and other categories of cases not pursued are included in the calculation. If further work identifies this as an area of concern, it will be taken up with those who provide the agency with offence reports.
§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to support the confiscation of unregistered and unlicensed HGVs. [9830]
§ Mr. NorrisPowers to wheel clamp and impound all types of unlicensed vehicles parked on the public road will be introduced shortly. A pilot wheel clamping scheme starting in London in February will enable us to assess the effectiveness of these powers in combating vehicle excise duty evasion.