44.—(1) For the purpose of Part III of Schedule 1 to the 1994 Act (annual rates of vehicle excise duty applicable to buses), the seating capacity of a bus shall be taken to be the number of persons that may be seated in the bus at any one time, as determined in accordance with the principles specified in paragraph (2).
(2) Those principles are—
(a)where separate seats for each person are provided one person shall be counted for each separate seat provided;
(b)where the vehicle is fitted with continuous seats one person shall be counted for each complete length of 410 mm measured in a straight line lengthwise on the front of each seat;
(c)where any continuous seat is fitted with arms in order to separate the seating spaces and the arms can be folded back or otherwise put out of use, the arms shall be ignored in measuring the seat;
(d)no account shall be taken of—
(i)the driver’s seat; or
(ii)any seats alongside the driver’s seat, whether separate from or continuous with it, if the Secretary of State is satisfied that the use of those seats by members of the public will not be permitted during the currency of the licence applied for.
(3) In paragraph (2) “driver’s seat” means—
(a)any separate seat occupied by the driver; or
(b)where no such seat is provided and the driver occupies a portion of a continuous seat, so much of that seat as extends from the right edge of the seat if the vehicle is steered from the right-hand side, or from the left edge of the seat if the vehicle is steered from the left-hand side, to a point 460 mm left or right, as the case may be, of the point on the seat directly behind the centre of the steering column.