Abolishing paper tax disc costs gov estimated £80 million.

The number of vehicles without road tax - Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) - doubled to 560,000 this summer according to the Department for Transport's survey, months after the paper tax disc was abolished in October 2014.

The loss in revenue for the government is "significant", having risen from £35m in 2013 to an estimated £80m now and, it has to be pointed out, far exceeds the forecast £10m efficiency saving".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34933962

Surely investing in more ANPR cameras would help to redress this, especially if traffic wardens carried portable devices. Would also detect uninsured vehicles and non MOT`d.

They may invest in more ANPR cameras, but do they have the manpower and resources to enforce the law? It's like a lot of minor laws now, there's not the budget available to enforce them.

I think if every police vehicle in the UK had the ANPR cam installed it would help towards the issue. Those vehicles are already manned.

I fail to see how having a paper disc or not would have made the difference.

Do people feel less guilty when their neighbours can no longer tell their car is illegally on the road?

I think if every police vehicle in the UK had the ANPR cam installed it would help towards the issue. Those vehicles are already manned.

If every police car was set up in such a way,the police wouldn't have much time to do anything else.

I don't know the exact maths of it,but for every thousand cars a police car passes,I would bet there would be more than a few un-taxed cars on the road.

---------- Post added 27-11-2015 at 02:58 ----------

I fail to see how having a paper disc or not would have made the difference.

 

Do people feel less guilty when their neighbours can no longer tell their car is illegally on the road?

So did the bright sparks who thought they were actually going to save money this way lol.

][/color]So did the bright sparks who thought they were actually going to save money this way lol.

They obviously did not factor psychology into the equation.

Surely investing in more ANPR cameras would help to redress this, especially if traffic wardens carried portable devices. Would also detect uninsured vehicles and non MOT`d.

We seem to be getting away from Police on the streets, they can solve crime too.

---------- Post added 27-11-2015 at 06:34 ----------

I fail to see how having a paper disc or not would have made the difference.

 

Do people feel less guilty when their neighbours can no longer tell their car is illegally on the road?

If no one can see you have no VED, you might think it less likely that you will get caught, because the neighbours might report you.

Is anyone actually surprised here.

Infact anyone with an ounce of common sense could have predicted this happening. I think it highlights the glaringly obvious, that these rule makers live in cloud cuckoo land!

Perhaps it's time to do away with VED, and add an element into fuel costs? Then no one could avoid it.

Perhaps it's time to do away with VED, and add an element into fuel costs? Then no one could avoid it.

Well said. It's long overdue. VED is more to do with protecting DVLA jobs in Wales than whether it is a good idea or not.

The biggest get out for car owners is the ability to stop the ved at a whim.

Its no problem to stop a monthly dd because you're skint,but not as easy to skip the minimum 6 months.

Is anyone actually surprised here.

Infact anyone with an ounce of common sense could have predicted this happening. I think it highlights the glaringly obvious, that these rule makers live in cloud cuckoo land!

You have hit the nail on the head .

Nosey neighbours , inquisitive work colleagues and old fashioned traffic wardens were the biggest deterrent for road tax dodgers .