The Licensing Work of the L.C.C.
Page 18
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THE 1925 report of the London County Council on Road Fund licences states that the whole of the revenue obtained by the taxation of mechanically propelled road vehicles is payable into the Road Fund, and in no way directly benefits the council. The annual rates of duty on these vehicles are governed by the Second Schedule of the Finance Act, 1920, and the Roads Vehicles (Part Year Licensing) Order, 1924, provides for the licensing of vehicles for lesser periods. The revenue obtained from the issue of drivers' licences is also payable into the Road Fund. The Minister of Transport pays out of the Road Fund the 'whole of the council's expenses of collection and administration.
The receipts in respect of vehicle and drivers' licences issued for the gears 1924 and 1925 are set out below. Dur
ing the year there was an increase of 86,489 in the number of licences issued and of £257,043 in the amount received.
The Minister of Transport has decided that the year in respect of receipts for Road Fund licence duties shall end on November 30th, owing to the fact that the greater part of the receipts during the month of December relates to licences taken out for the following year.
Under Section 18 of the Finance Act, 1924, a licence for a mechanically propelled vehicle may be surrendered at any time before its expiry, and a refund is allowable of onetwelfth of the annual or one-third of the quarterly rate for each complete month of the unexpired period of the licence. This concession came intc operation on January 1st, 1925, and has given rise to a considerable amount of work which will still further increase as the concession becomes more generally known.
The growing demand for mechanical transport, both for commercial and private purposes, is shown by the fact that over 46,000 new vehicles were registered in London during the calendar year 1925, compared with 38,000 during 1924. Large numbers of these vehicles, although registered in London, are for use elsewhere, and much work is involved in the transfer of the papers to other authorities and cognate operations in connection therewith. The registration of changes of ownership is constantly on the increase, and the work arising therefrom is extremely heavy.