Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to introduce any incentive schemes to encourage people to stop using the most polluting diesel cars.

The Government has announced an end to the sale of all new conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040. To deliver this the Government wants to encourage people to switch to cleaner forms of transport and has committed to consulting on measures to support individuals and businesses who are impacted by local air quality compliance measures later this autumn. It is welcome that number of the leading car manufacturers have announced schemes that offer substantial discounts off the purchase of a new vehicle for people who are trading in or scrapping an older, more polluting vehicle. We welcome the introduction of these schemes and are particularly supportive of the schemes that commit to scrapping the older vehicles, so that we can be sure they are helping to increase fleet turnover and improve air quality.

We are also supporting the uptake of vehicles with zero tailpipe emissions. This includes investing nearly £100m in the UK’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure and funding the Plug In Car and Plug In Van Grant Schemes.