HL Deb 06 June 2000 vol 613 cc146-7WA
Earl Attlee

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What advice is being given by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency regarding the correct taxation class for a vehicle used to pump concrete or other building materials at a building site, when the vehicle is not used to carry any materials other than water used in conjunction with the machinery. [HL2427]

Lord Whitty

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has in recent years advised operators of mobile concrete pumps that their vehicles should be licensed in the mobile crane tax class, on the basis of legal advice. However, the DVLA is currently considering the implications ofR v Reilly Concrete Pumping Limited, in which an operator was convicted under Section 37 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 after registering his vehicles in that class, to consider what advice it should now issue to operators of concrete pumps to ensure that their vehicles are correctly licensed.

Earl Attlee

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether it would be in the public interest for the Crown Prosecution Service to prosecute a vehicle operator when the operator had followed the advice of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. [HL2430]

Lord Whitty

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency operates within the law and makes every endeavour to give vehicle operators the best possible advice on the appropriate tax class within which to license their vehicles. When the police send a case to the Crown Prosecution, it is reviewed to make sure that it meets the tests set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors.

If the Crown Prosecutor is satisfied that there is enough evidence to prosecute, then the public interest test must be considered. The advice received by defendants from DVLA would be one factor the prosecutor would take into account when considering whether a prosecution is needed in the public interest. However, the prosecutor must balance other factors for and against the prosecution in weighing the public interest. Each case must be considered on its own individual merits.

The interpretation of the law is of course a matter for the courts, and the agency will revise its advice to operators in the light of decisions by the courts.