My Freedom of Information request

[Holdsworth]

I found out the other night that my sister is one of those people who claims that cyclists pay no "road tax" and therefore have no right to use the roads. I know the standard response so I point out her errors in hoping that she'll understand.

The one bit she got me at was how do we know where all our taxes go and what they pay for. I thought about this and couldn't find anything about the sources that IPRT.com use so I put in a freedom of information request to the DVLA to get some info at this site:

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com

Below is the response I received and it to me confirms the fact that VED is not ring-fenced for road building and maintenance and is indeed placed it the tax pot and dished out accordingly

Thank you for your e-mail of 31 March to the Freedom of Information team. The Freedom of Information Act gives people a right to access non-personal information
held by public authorities. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is the
authority responsible for maintaining a register of drivers, vehicles and their keepers.
As your request for information falls within DVLA’s day to day business, your request
is subsequently being treated as ‘Business as Usual’.

The revenue from individual taxes is not generally devoted to specific items of
expenditure. There has been no direct relationship between vehicle excise duty
(VED) and road expenditure since 1937. Since then all revenues have been
combined to fund a whole range of Government spending. In this way, resources
can be applied efficiently and flexibly according to public expenditure priorities.

The responsibility for expenditure on Motorways and Trunk Roads lies with the
Highways Agency and for all other roads with the relevant local authority.

Yours sincerely



Nicola Virdee
Corporate Affairs Directorate

 

[2Loose]

So in essence, we don't know exactly where our taxes go.
I am pretty sure that more go to the benefit system, NHS and defence than get spent on local roads though.

 

[downfader]

Good stuff! If cyclists keep getting this mud flung at them (which in all reality isnt the cyclists fault and seems to be a feature of jealousy in some circles) then they will start to ask questions of their politicians, councils etc..

..and then add in the externalities of cost that motoring seems to cause. There are several figures banded about, the most ironic being that economy and busineses suffer losses of £20bn a year because of traffic congestion.

http://ipayroadtax.com/itv-ignorance-about-road-tax/why-isnt-beer-tax-used-to-build-better-pubs/

 

[Jezston]

Bloody students, not paying council tax. They shouldn't be allowed on the roads! (except motorways and trunk roads)

 

[Jezston]

Bloody people who earn less money than me and thus pay less tax! They shouldn't be allowed on the roads (outside of the duristiction of their local council)!

 

[BSRU]

I found out that new diesel 2 litre BMW that drove through a bus gate last week was rated at £0 VED for six months, I wonder if any daily star "reading" WVM has told him to get of the road for not paying "road tax".

 

[downfader]

I found out that new diesel 2 litre BMW that drove through a bus gate last week was rated at £0 VED for six months, I wonder if any daily star "reading" WVM has told him to get of the road for not paying "road tax".

It was alright, it was one of those new hovver bovver beemers

 

[Sambot]

The state the roads are in at the minute it's going to be a pretty big repair bill for whoever is going to pick up the tab!!

 

[henshaw11]

>Below is the response I received and it to me confirms the fact that VED is not ring-fenced for road building and maintenance and is indeed placed it the tax pot and dished out accordingly

I don't thing there's *any* tax that is ring-fenced in that way (I forget the proper term) - even National Insurance is logged only wrt one's state pension qualification, rather than actually going towards it.

Perhaps you ought to think of one area where she might have a proportionally higher take from than some other people (eg child benefit, child care vouchers) and remind her of that ?

 

[teletext45]

my brother works for the local council, as far as i know they have a pot which they must spend before april every year to ensure they get the same budget the next year. The local council leaves all road repairs until march and repairs are done with what money is left in the budget. Only thing is last year there was none so the roads didn't get repaired.

Its the same system at the college i go to, so if equipment gets broken often it won't get repaired, don't really know why i'm paying 3k a year grrr

andy

 

[ufkacbln]

Simply point out the other scroungers who use the roads without paying "road tax"

All the pedestrians
All the kids sitting in cars without contributing anything to the upkeep of the roads they are using
All the front seat passengers who also fail to contribute

 

[MLC]

Not sure how correct this is but I heard that local road repairs are paid out of local council tax bills. You have a counter argument that if the driver is not a local to the road you are on and you are and of course you pay council tax then you have more right to the local road than he does....using the same twisted logic of the car driver (i.e. I pay I am more entitled)

To take it a step further (again using the drivers twisted logic) if road repair is paid out of general taxation then if you pay more tax surely you are more entitled to use the road than they are as you earn more.....

The above two arguments have obvious failing points eg: if you are arguing with a guy with a bugatti veryon or whatever the silly name is.

Or just point out that actually (as a ped or cyclist) you are there by right and they are there by invitation, they have to pass a test and get granted a license that permits them to drive on the roads. A cyclist or a ped does not.

Oh and of course the Romans built roads so that they could get to A and B by car easily.

Failing all that, just D-lock them (though not very appropriate when you are having an argument with your sister)

The last para was a joke!

 

[pshore]

There's been so much carnage on my local roads recently, I am starting to wonder if we need a specific 'danger' tax on cars to pay for schemes that keep pedestrians and cyclists safe.

There is a massive amount of tax on ciggies because they are so bad for your health, why not follow through for cars because we are suffering from 'passive driving'. The VED/emissions tax is like that but we need more !

Hmmm, thinking out loud, I wonder how much would be useful? There are 30 million vehicles on the road. £10 each nets 300 million, not that much but would initially send a very large signal.