Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the number of electric taxi and private hire vehicles to improve air quality in cities.

The Department's Transport Energy Model, which was published alongside the Road to Zero Strategy in 2018, clearly shows the environmental benefits of switching to ultra low emission vehicles, including ULEV taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (PHVs). The Government has accordingly provided £50m of funding for the Plug-in Taxi Grant Scheme, which offers a discount on the price of eligible taxis of up to £7,500.

In February 2019 the Department announced that 17 local authorities had been awarded a total of £6.89m through the second round of the Ultra-Low Emission Taxi Infrastructure Competition. The funding enables Local Authorities to install chargepoint infrastructure dedicated to ultra-low emission taxis, and comes in addition to the £14m awarded in the first round of the scheme to 10 local authorities.

The Plug-in Car Grant provides up to £3,500 towards eligible ultra low emission cars, including for PHVs. Both taxi and PHV drivers may also be eligible for a grant of up to £500 under the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme, for the installation of a domestic chargepoint.