§ Mr. WhittingdaleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will estimate the cost of reducing vehicle excise duty on gas-fuelled vehicles to £20. [80013]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonAt 31 December 1998, DVLA records showed a total of 2,669 licensed gas vehicles in Great Britain. Of these, 420 were licensed in exempt classes and the large majority of the remainder were licensed either as Private or Light Goods vehicles or as agricultural vehicles. We therefore estimate that the revenue cost of reducing vehicle excise duty to £20 on these vehicles would be substantially less than £1 million. However, the Government are encouraging the switch to gas and other low pollutant fuels and we would expect the number of gas-powered vehicles to increase significantly in the future.