1. These Regulations may be cited as the Vehicle Excise Duty (Immobilisation, Removal and Disposal of Vehicles) Regulations 1996 and shall come into force on 20th February 1996.
2.—(1) In these Regulations, unless the context requires otherwise —
“the 1994 Act” means the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994;
“authorised person” has the meaning given by regulation 3;
“custodian” in relation to a vehicle has the meaning given by regulation 10(2);
“designated clamping area” has the meaning given by regulation 4;
“disabled person’s badge” has the meaning given by paragraph 1(7) of Schedule 2A to the 1994 Act;
“G.B. records” means the records kept under the 1994 Act by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency on behalf of the Secretary of State and “G.B. registration mark” means a registration mark assigned to a vehicle registered in those records;
“local authority” means a county council, a district council, a London borough council or the Common Council of the City of London;
“N.I. records” means the records kept under the 1994 Act by Driver and Vehicle Licensing Northern Ireland on behalf of the Secretary of State and “N.I. registration mark” means a registration mark assigned to a vehicle registered in those records;
“public service vehicle” has the meaning given by section 1 of the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981(1);
“release” in relation to a vehicle means release from an immobilisation device;
“surety payment” means a sum payable by virtue of regulation 6(3)(b) or regulation 13(2)(c)(ii); and
“voucher” means a voucher issued under regulation 16(2).
(2) References to the prescribed charge for any matter are to the charge specified in relation to that matter in Schedule 1 to these Regulations.
(3) References to the “owner” of a vehicle at a particular time are to the person by whom it was then kept and the person in whose name the vehicle is registered at a particular time shall be taken, unless the contrary is shown, to be the person by whom the vehicle was kept at that time.
(4) Except where it is expressly provided otherwise, a reference in these Regulations to a numbered regulation is to the regulation in these Regulations so numbered and a reference to a numbered paragraph is to the paragraph so numbered in the regulation in which the reference occurs.
3.—(1) In these Regulations a reference to an authorised person is to a person authorised by the Secretary of State for the purposes of these Regulations.
(2) An authorised person may be a local authority, an employee of a local authority, a member of a police force or any other person.
(3) Different persons may be authorised for different purposes, but a person who is an authorised person for the purposes of regulation 18 shall not act as an authorised person for any other purpose.
4. These Regulations shall apply only to vehicles which are stationary within an area named in Schedule 2 to these Regulations (in these Regulations referred to as a “designated clamping area”).
1981 c. 14. Section 1 was amended by Schedule 8 to the Transport Act 1985 (c. 67).