§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for North Essex on 14 December 2000,Official Report, column 201W, on implementation of VED rates for commercial vehicles, (a) if rebates on existing vehicles and (b) the revised rates of VED on re-registered vehicles will be available to vehicle operators before 1 January 2001; and if it is his policy (i) to increase VED rates immediately and (ii) to delay the implementation of VED reductions until the Budget. [144091]
§ Mr. HillApplication forms for operators to apply for the Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) rebates announced in the pre-Budget Report are currently being sent out to operators by DVLA. A number of payments have already been made. It is expected that payments will be despatched no more than four weeks after receipt of the completed application form by DVLA. The deduction of rebates from the statutory VED rates at source has meant that those taking out licences from December 2000 have, in effect, been paying the new VED rates announced in the pre-Budget Report. This reflects our intention to implement both the new rates and the payment of rebates at the earliest opportunity after the announcement of the pre-Budget Report.
The Government have issued a consultation paper on the future VED for goods vehicles, seeking views on a number of proposals including fewer VED rate bands, greater flexibility of vehicle configuration within each rate band, better environmental signals and reduced tax on vehicle ownership. The consultation closes on 12 January.