Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress he has made on implementing the findings of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Environmental Audit; Health and Social Care; and Transport Committees joint report, Improving air quality, published on 15 March 2018, HC 433, in relation to aligning HM Treasury policies with clean air objectives.

As set out in the government’s response to the Improving Air Quality report, HM Treasury sees tax and spending policy as playing an important role in tackling climate change and reducing air pollution. For spending measures, HM Treasury scrutinises departments’ application of the Green Book’s guidance, including air quality impacts, on an ongoing basis.

With regard to incorporating air quality pollutants into vehicle taxation, laboratory tests cannot currently measure NOx to a level of accuracy comparable with real-world driving emissions. Therefore, the VED system is based on CO2 only, as this allows for a banded system to be implemented. At Autumn Budget 2017, the government announced a temporary levy on new diesel cars to encourage manufacturers to bring forward the next generation clean diesels.