§ The Earl of Mar and Kellieasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the rates of vehicle excise duty for "island goods vehicles", as defined in paragraph 18 of Schedule 1 to the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994; how these rates compare with mainland goods vehicle rates; and what other benefits are accorded to "island goods vehicles". [HL3975]
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§ The Minister of State, Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (Lord Falconer of Thoroton)The current annual rate of vehicle excise duty for island goods vehicles is £165, rather than the standard rate of excise duty of up to £1,850 for goods vehicles kept on the mainland.
This rate applies to goods vehicles kept on islands of less than 230,000 hectares specified in the Vehicle Excise Duty (Designation of Small Islands) Order 1995. A vehicle of more than 17,000kg gross weight qualifies for the concession only if it is used only on the mainland to load or unload goods at premises not more than 5km from the point where they disembarked.
The Government announced in the Budget that an order had been laid to amend the list of specified islands from 1 June 2002 to include Orkney mainland, Shetland mainland and Lewis and Harris.
The licensing of a vehicle in the small island vehicles taxation class does not bring any benefits other than the lower rate of annual duty.