Vehicle Excise Duty (Evasion)

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his reply of 7 March, Official Report, columns 97–98, to the hon. Member for Gloucester, what is the cost of each intensive local comaign to discourage the evasion of vehicle excise duty carried out during 1987–88; what size of geographical area is covered by each such campaign; and if he has plans to establish a nationwide campaign.

The costs to the Department, together with the relicensing revenue and the court penalties imposed on evaders, of each of the campaigns already held or under way in the present financial year are estimated as follows:

	DTp1costs	Relicensing revenue	Court penalties
	£	£	£
April 1987
South Yorkshire	49,000	876,000	8,600
Nottinghamshire	48,000	747,000	6,700
May 1987
Lothian and Borders	49,000	688,000	6,700
London Metropolitan/City	107,000	7,000,000	335,300
July 1987
Merseyside	57,000	919,000	7,000
September 1987
Tayside	32,000	233,000	200
October 1987 (All Wales)
Dyfed	157,000	429,000	1,500
Gwent		389,000	4,000
North Wales		524,000	6,500
South Wales		1,016,000	3,500
February 1988
Hampshire	53,000	Results awaited
March 1988
Cambridgeshire	36,000
Lincolnshire	35,000
Norfolk	40,000
Suffolk	37,000
	700,000	12,821,000	380,000
1 Police costs are not included; in total, they are probably of a similar order of magnitude.

Each campaign covers a single police force area and is the subject of separate negotiations with the chief constable. Where better publicity can be achieved by synchronised campaigns in adjacent areas, officials endeavour to arrange them in collaboration with the police. I have no plans for a single nationwide campaign.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimates have been made by his Department about the number of cars which are in use without a valid road fund licence.

The most recent estimate of vehicle excise duty evasion in Great Britain is based on a national survey in June 1984 which indicated that 580,000 unlicensed cars and vans were in use on the road.