Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans the Government has to bring forward legislative proposals to make the manipulation of emissions data a criminal offence attracting (a) custodial sentences and (b) financial penalties.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government recently consulted on proposals to strengthen the penalties available for the use of prohibited defeat devices. The details of our proposals are set out in this consultation document -https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/road-vehicles-improving-air-quality-and-safety. We are now considering the responses to decide how to proceed.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many cars of what makes in departmental fleets were affected by Volkswagen's manipulation of emissions data; what the cost was to the public purse of such fleet cars purchased or hired that were so affected; and what the cost was to the public purse of rectifying the faulty devices on those cars and of hiring or buying replacement vehicles as a result of those faulty devices.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Government Car Service fleet has no VW vehicles and was unaffected.
Information on departmental fleets across Government is not centrally held.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many cars of what makes in the Government Car Service were affected by Volkswagen's manipulation of emissions data; what the cost was to the public purse of the purchased or hired cars in that service that were affected; and what the cost was to the public purse of rectifying the faulty devices on those cars and of hiring or buying replacement vehicles as a result of those faulty devices.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Government Car Service fleet has no VW vehicles and was unaffected.
Information on departmental fleets across Government is not centrally held.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister of State for Transport of 23 February 2017, Official Report, column 1147, if he will provide an update to the House within the next month on (a) whether the Government plans to bring forward criminal charges and (b) what support he is providing for the private prosecution being brought by consumers to force Volkswagen to do the right thing.
Answered by John Hayes
The government wants Volkswagen to face the appropriate legal consequences for their actions. The Secretary of State plans to travel to Berlin to meet with our German counterparts to discuss this important issue. We expect that the vast majority of the wrongdoing took place in Germany and so it is appropriate that the German authorities lead the investigation. However we have not ruled out launching our own criminal investigation.
I have met with representatives of legal firms preparing civil action against Volkswagen and am considering their requests for assistance. I will be updating the House, as appropriate, in due course.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the annual budget is for food produced for his Department's offices; and what proportion of food produced for his Department was sourced from British producers in the last period for which figures are available.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The requested information is not recorded in the format requested and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
My department follows the Government Buying Standard for food and catering to be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/418072/gbs-food-catering-march2015.pdf.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of dairy products procured for his Department was sourced from British producers in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
My department follows the Government Buying Standard for food and catering to be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/418072/gbs-food-catering-march2015.pdf. This specifies that any food purchased must conform as a minimum to UK statutory animal welfare standards or equivalent. The table below provides details on the proportion of dairy products that was sourced from British producers for the period 1st September 2014 to 31st August 2015.
Agency Name | % of UK produced products | |||||
| Butter | Cheese | Cream | Milk | Yoghurt | All dairy |
DfTC 2015* See note 1 | 0% | 57% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 81% |
DVSA 2015* See note 2 | 100% | 70% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 94% |
DVLA 2015* See note 3 | 0% | 88% | 100% | 100% | 0% | 94% |
MCA & VCA do not have onsite catering | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
DfTC note 1: Data covers the period 01/05/2015 to 31/08/2015. We have been unable to source data for DfTC pre May 2015 as we changed catering suppliers. All of the hard cheese and regional cheese provided are sourced from UK. There are number of non-indigenous, to UK, cheeses provided which are sourced from the EU. All of the butter, albeit a very minimal amount, is sourced from Republic of Ireland as the catering supplier is UK & Ireland operating company and its current butter contract is with a producer in the Republic of Ireland.
DVSA note 2: Sample period 1st September 2014 to 31st August 2015.
DVLA note 3: Sample Period 1st Sept 2014 - 31st Aug 2015, butter portions originate from Republic of Ireland, all cream & milk originates from Wales. All yoghurt originates from Denmark.