Air Quality
Debate between Wendy Morton and Thérèse Coffey(8 years, 1 month ago)
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Dr Coffey
As the right hon. Gentleman will know from his time in government, measures take some time to work up. He may shake his head, but I am not going to become involved in the blame game and talk about what happened under Labour, when the number of diesel vehicles on the road increased. What I will say is that I am working closely with officials to come up with the wide range of actions that we wish to take, and I can only add that we hope to announce them in due course.
Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)
I recognise that my hon. Friend acknowledges that more needs to be done, and I am grateful for her statement. Does she agree that, in seeking to do more to address the problem, we should take the opportunity to use some of our home-grown innovation and technologies?
Dr Coffey
My hon. Friend is right. We should recognise the progress that the United Kingdom has made in respect of low-emission vehicles, and I hope that some of the new incentives will encourage people to think of buying one when they come to replace their cars. The Department for Transport is investigating other technologies as well, and I hope that they will prove fruitful in helping us to tackle this issue.
Business of the House
Debate between Wendy Morton and Thérèse Coffey(8 years, 6 months ago)
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Dr Coffey
I think the hon. Lady raised this issue in last summer’s pre-recess Adjournment debate. I replied then and thought I had been helpful, but I will encourage the Minister responsible to see what she can do. I will not make promises prior to 23 June but I will do my best.
Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)
Ceramics, bricks, tiles and pipes are important industries providing valuable jobs across the UK, including in my constituency, where clay from local quarries is used in brick manufacturing. May we have a debate in Government time on the strategic importance of bricks and ceramics, especially on how best to support these industries so that they are well placed to meet ongoing and future demand for bricks and house building?
Dr Coffey
My hon. Friend raises a serious point about an industry that is hugely important to ensuring that UK plc keeps motoring and that people have homes to live in. I would encourage her to apply to the Backbench Business Committee, when it meets shortly, because I am sure that many people would be interested in such a debate.