Growing Back Better Report

Kerry McCarthy Excerpts

Thursday 25th February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Philip Dunne]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. There is no question but that unilateral introduction of such a scheme has the potential to be more damaging than an international agreement. Our report recommended that the Treasury consider the issues of carbon pricing and carbon border adjustment, and I very much hope that it will take that recommendation forward.

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab) [V]]

I congratulate the right hon. Member and his Committee on this report. I see that it calls for new road projects to be explicitly appraised against air quality, biodiversity and climate change commitments, which I very much welcome. It has now been reported that the Transport Secretary overruled advice from his own civil servants on the need to conduct an environmental review of the planned expansion of England’s road networks. Does the Committee intend to follow up on its report by raising that with the Secretary of State? Does he see a future role for the Committee in scrutinising the environmental impact of the road expansion policy if the Transport Secretary is unwilling to do so?

[Philip Dunne]

I thank the hon. Lady for reading the report with her customary diligence to find those references. She was a very valuable member of the Committee for many years. The Committee will have to wait to see the Government’s response to our report. We will be looking for responses to all our recommendations, including in relation to transport, and we will then decide how to respond and how that will inform our further work, but her point is well made.