§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost in 2002–03 is of administering vehicle excise duty; how many officials are involved; where they are located; and what the annual salary bill has been in each of the last three years. [66701]
§ Mr. Jamieson[holding answer 8 Jul 2002]: The costs and staff involved in the collection and enforcement of vehicle excise duty (VED) in Great Britain are shown in the table.
1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 Cost of administering VED (£ million) 100.2 103.3 110.5 Number of officials (estimated) 2,100 2,200 2,300 Salary costs (£ million) 34.6 36.4 39.3 The number of officials shown (full-time equivalents) is an estimate, based on the apportionment of the total Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) staff. The collection of VED is integrated with the registration of vehicles and the ongoing maintenance of the vehicle register. Staff involved are not dedicated wholly to registration or licensing activities. The number of officials figures do not include non-DVLA staff working at post offices involved in VED collection and vehicle registration.
The DVLA staff are located at the headquarters in Swansea and at 40 local offices spread throughout Great Britain.