From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Magazine article from 'The Motor' discussing the 1941 UK budget, motor taxes, and the formation of a new transport council.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 160\5\ scan0295 | |
| Date | 16th April 1941 | |
| April 16, 1941. 211 The Motor Less Grumbling About the Budget No Increase in Motor Taxes THE first day that Parliament sat after April 6, which it was announced would mark the introduction of the Budget, proved to be Monday, April 7, a most unusual day for the annual financial statement. As usual, newspaper forecasts were in the main wide of the mark, for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Kingsley Wood, proposes to raise new income by the extension of income tax to another 2,000,000 lower-paid workers, by reducing the allowances, while raising the basic rate to 10s. in the £. There was no increase in the tax on petrol and oil, probably because it would inevitably have led to an increase of bus fares, and the Chancellor has announced that the Government, rather than allow passenger fares to increase, would subsidize the bus and rail undertakings. There is no increase in the horsepower tax or in any indirect taxation, but what surprised people most is that although 10s. per head would bring in £5,000,000 at a very small cost of collection, there is still no tax on bicycles. To those who may contemplate writing to The Motor in protest, we would point out that it augurs well for post-war tax-free motoring, at least so far as any form of people’s car is concerned. In dismissing the idea of a “service tax,” the Chancellor said that it would include taxes on essentials “such as . . . railway, bus and tram fares.” Is it not amusing that these should be sacrosanct? There is no hesitation in imposing taxation on private motoring, even when essential. The difference in increased income tax caused by lowering the allowances is to be credited to the taxpayer, up to a maximum of £65 per annum, and it will be possible to balance this sum against income tax liability after the war. That should enable many people to acquire cars when peace returns, and we expect it will definitely encourage that trend. A similar proposition is that instead of reducing the Excess Profits Tax of 100 per cent., 20 per cent. will be set on one side for reconstruction and peace-time development of the contributing businesses. The estimate of the revenue from motor vehicle duties for this year is £39 million, against an estimate of £35 million for the previous year and the receipt of slightly over £38 million. [Image of a race car] [Image of a man in a suit] The Halford Special and its designer, Major F.{Mr Friese} B. Halford (see paragraph “Forging the Sabre” on page facing). Rail and Road Combine New Transport Council WE are one stage nearer the time when road transport will be telescoped into the railways. A new War Transport Council has been set up to advise on questions of transport policy in war-time. The members will examine matters which the Minister may refer to them, and are invited to put forward proposals likely to increase the contribution that transport is making to the war effort. The Council will consist of Sir Arthur Griffith Boscawen, chairman of the Transport Advisory Council; Lord Stamp, chairman of the L.M.S.; Sir Maxwell Hicks, of McNamara's and Allied Transport, Ltd.; Mr. J.{Mr Johnson W.M.} F.{Mr Friese} Heaton, chairman of Tillings; two secretaries of the unions concerned, Messrs. W. P. Allen (Locomotive Engineers) and A.{Mr Adams} Deakin (Transport and General Workers); Mr. J.{Mr Johnson W.M.} D.{John DeLooze - Company Secretary} Ritchie, Port of London Authority; and Sir William Prescott, Lee Conservancy Board. In a Press statement the Ministry point out that the war has altered the movement of traffic from the traditional north to south to west to east. Furthermore, the transport system of this country has been laid out for economic and social purposes and not at all on strategic lines. Work has been in progress for strengthening and reorganizing where necessary each section of transport and until that was under way, the statement says, there could be little co-ordination between them, adding: “A highly organized railway system with its great traditions varied fundamentally from those of the younger but virile and flexible road-haulage industry untrammelled by capital commitments.” A warning is given that, as pressure on transport increases, the public might find facilities in travel even less numerous. Our view is that the roads can carry a great deal more than they do to-day, and that, so far as petrol and oil supplies allow, every possible encouragement should be given to the use of private cars for passenger transport and goods vehicles for freight. We are certainly not making anything like full use of the facilities available for the employment of road vehicles. The statement adds some figures regarding the transport industry. It employs more workers than any other single industry in Great Britain. At the time of the last census, in 1931, the total was over 1¼ millions. The number should be larger now. The railways employ a staff of 580,000. Freight-carrying vehicles total about 1¼ millions. British railways cover 20,000 route miles. The classified roads of Great Britain cover 45,000 miles and the total mileage is 180,000—a greater length of road to the square mile than any other country. The total number of motor vehicles licensed in this country before the war exceeded 3,000,000. [Cartoon signature] Brockbank [Text on vehicle in cartoon] NE 7428337 RASC 3L [Handwritten text at bottom] 1SL + 2S%, A1, A1 | ||