Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that legal action is pursued against Volkswagen executives regarding that company's emissions scandal.

Volkswagen's behaviour in installing defeat devices in its vehicles has been entirely unacceptable. Taking criminal action against Volkswagen is complex given that in legal terms the wrongdoing appears to have taken place outside the UK. It is for the German Government in the first instance to prosecute.

For this reason, it would be inappropriate to carry out a separate parallel UK criminal investigation. The Department reserves the option to do so, however, based on the evidence from any German prosecution.