§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will increase the minimum deposit for the grant of an O licence from £5,000 to £20,000. [114518]
§ Mr. HillNew European Union rules on the level of finances required by holders of international operator licences came into effect in this country for new applications in October 1999. Existing operators have until October 2001 to meet the new requirements. They require an amount equal to or exceeding 9,000 euro for the first or only vehicle authorised under the operator's licence and 5,000 euro for each additional vehicle. This represents a significant increase over the previous financial requirements. Traffic Commissioners assess the level of financial resources required by domestic operators as a proportion of these figures. For standard national licences this is normally some 80 per cent. of the figure set for an international operator's licence and about 50 per cent. for Restricted licences. We are planning to carry out a consultation exercise seeking views on whether these remain appropriate levels of funding for domestic operators.