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PETITION
AGAINST DVLA FEE PROPOSALS
The Federation of
British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) today, 14th December, delivered a petition
with over 50,000 signatures to Downing Street calling on the Prime
Minister to block a DVLA proposal for an "annual registration
charge".
The charge would
affect all vehicle keepers and raise an additional £150
million or more from motorists each year. The proposed charge
amounts to a tax on a tax and, worse, it would be set by agency
rather than by Parliament. FBHVC and all who signed the petition
object to taxation by agency and also object to any form of
"possession tax".
Should they be
elected, the Conservatives have promised to scrap this proposal
which they describe as a "new Labour stealth tax due to be
levied on millions of Britain’s motorists". Condemning the
latest Government assault on vehicle owners, Shadow Transport
Secretary Tim Yeo warned that a proposed "car possession
tax" could cost drivers up to £4.50 a year in special
vehicle registration fees, plus £7.50 for a change of keeper levy
to be charged whenever a road vehicle is sold to a new owner.
Speaking before the FBHVC petition was taken to Downing Street, Mr
Yeo said: "Motorists are already forking out £42 billion in
road tax levies, but Labour’s higher taxes have not meant higher
spending on our roads. This new tax will not only be unfair on
classic car enthusiasts, whose vehicles cause neither congestion
nor pollution, but it will hit every person who relies on their
car. This is another stealth tax from Tony Blair’s Government
which Conservatives will not introduce. We will end Tony Blair’s
war on the motorist and give them value for money."
The petition,
which has the support of the All Party Parliamentary Historic
Vehicles Club, was handed in at 10 Downing Street by a joint PHVC
– FBHVC delegation comprising Lord Montagu of Beaulieu
(President), Geoff Smith (Vice President) and Andrew Burt
(Chairman) from FBHVC and Rt Hon Greg Knight MP (Chairman,
Conservative), John Cryer MP (Vice-Chairman, Labour) and Kelvin
Hopkins MP (Treasurer, Labour) from PHVC. The delegation travelled
from Parliament to Downing Street in two very different historic
cars – Lord Montagu drove the 1899 Daimler that his father
bought new and which was the very first motor vehicle ever to
enter the precincts of Parliament while Ray McMullen’s 1955
Alvis represented the understated quality that is typical of the
grass roots of the British historic vehicle movement.
Ends.
14 December 2004
Issued by the
Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs
Kernshill, Shute Street,
Stogumber, Taunton TA4 3TU Tel: 01984 656995 e-mail: admin@fbhvc.co.uk
The consultation giving
rise to the petition closed in November. FBHVC’s response can be
found at http://www.fbhvc.co.uk
and the original consultation may be found at http://www.dvla.gov.uk
The text of the covering letter
handed in to Downing Street with the petition was:-
Dear Prime Minister,
With this letter, the
Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs today delivers over
50,000 signatures that have been collected in the last two months
calling on you to block proposals made by the Driver and Vehicle
Licensing Agency (DVLA) to levy an "annual registration
charge" on Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) transactions, including
Statutory Off Road Notifications (SORN).
Attached is a copy of our
response to DVLA’s consultation which first mooted the new
charge together with a copy of a letter from the Motor Museums
Networking Forum that explains the particular problems the
proposal would have for those looking after large parts of the
nation’s motoring heritage. The problems apply equally to formal
motor museums and private collections.
The objection to the proposal
is three-fold:-
-
the level of charge,
payable with VED or when declaring SORN, will be set by DVLA
so it amounts to taxation by agency. We
believe taxation should be by parliament, not by agency.
-
the purpose for which the
charge is proposed is to enable DVLA to subsidise the cost of
issuing driving licences and to enable it to reduce the cost
of first registration of new vehicles. We believe it is
wrong to expect one discrete group of people (in this instance
vehicle keepers) to subsidise services for any other group –
if it is in the public interest that certain services should
be subsidised, the cost should be borne by the public purse.
-
because SORN transactions
will be liable to the charge, it will be impossible for any
keeper of a vehicle to avoid the charge simply by taking their
vehicle off the road. This means that it is an unavoidable
charge resulting from the ownership (rather than the use) of a
vehicle - a possession tax. We
believe it is iniquitous to levy a recurring charge on any
individual simply for the privilege of keeping, rather than
using, any object.
We trust you will look
favourably on this petition.
[signed by]
Lord Montagu of
Beaulieu
G A
Smith
A Burt
President
Vice-President
Chairman
This petition is supported by
the undersigned officers of the All Party Parliamentary Historic
Vehicles Club.
[signed by]
The Rt. Hon. Greg Knight
MP
John Cryer
MP
Kelvin Hopkins MP
Chairman
Vice-Chairman
Treasurer
If you have any comments in favour
or against this stealth tax, please let us know on our message board
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