Clause 7. — (Unladen Weight of Vehicles: Special Bodies.)

Part of Orders of the Day — Finance Bill – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 15 June 1966.

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Photo of Sir John Morris Sir John Morris Parliamentary Secretary (Ministry of Transport) 12:00, 15 June 1966

I am glad of the welcome which the two hon. Gentlemen opposite have given to the Clause. The hon. Member for Worcester (Mr. Peter Walker) posed four questions and I will deal with them in the reverse order in which he put them. He asked when the matter came to the attention of the Treasury and how much delay there had been. I regret that I cannot go into detail on this issue, except to say that as soon as the matter came to my attention I saw that it was dealt with as quickly as possible.

The hon. Member for Worcester asked what this would cost in a full year. The type of vehicle which will benefit from the provisions of the Clause now pays between £19 and £306 per year in vehicle excise duty. The reduction in duty will depend on the weight of the containers carried, now to be discounted, but it will probably range between £36 and £63 a year. The number of vehicles which will be affected is not known exactly. It is probably comparatively small, not greatly exceeding 1,000, and on that basis, although I cannot quantify it further, a simple arithmetical calculation should produce a rough figure of the total cost.

The hon. Gentleman then asked about the relevance of the date 1st September. This will be the first convenient date for this provision—since vehicle excise licences are issued on a monthly basis—after the Bill becomes law. A forward operative date for changes of this sort affecting rates of duty is common practice. There is a precedent. It is Section 11 of the Finance Act, 1964, which exempted certain vehicles used by invalids.