Asked by: Iain Wright (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on (a) air quality and (b) pollution levels caused by vehicles in Hartlepool constituency; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Defra provides information about recent and historic levels of pollution, pollution forecasts, health advice and background modelled data on the UK-AIR website at: http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/. Forecasts are issued daily and cover the next five days.
Although Defra does not have a permanent monitoring station in Hartlepool, the nearest monitoring stations can be found on UK-AIR’s interactive monitoring networks map at: http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/interactive-map.
Modelled data is provided for levels at roadside locations for major roads in the UK. This data can also be found at: http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/data/gis-mapping. Local authorities (in this case Hartlepool Council) have a responsibility to assess air quality at a local level. Defra provides guidance and air quality assessment tools to support local authorities in carrying out their duties under the Environment Act 1995. This information can be found at: http://laqm.defra.gov.uk/. Local authorities report on the outcomes of assessments in air quality reports and submit the reports to Defra. Air quality reports include air quality monitoring data, pollutant emissions, sources of pollution and historical trends.
Hartlepool Council’s air quality reports do not apportion information on pollution levels between those caused by traffic vehicles and other sources.
Asked by: Gareth Johnson (Conservative - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people were prosecuted for failure to pay vehicle excise duty in (a) Dartford constituency and (b) England and Wales in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency does not hold this data broken down by parliamentary constituency. Figures are not held specifically for England and Wales. The table below shows the total amount of prosecutions for the offence of keeping or using an unlicensed vehicle in England, Scotland and Wales in each of the last five years.
Year
| Total number of prosecutions
|
2009/10
| 64,408
|
2010/11
| 53,648
|
2011/12
| 44,159
|
2012/13
| 29,035
|
2013/14
| 25,044
|
The DVLA operates a comprehensive package of measures to tackle vehicle excise duty evasion. These range from reminder letters and penalties through to court prosecutions and the wheelclamping and/or removal of unlicensed vehicles. These measures have helped to improve compliance and the latest estimates show that vehicle excise duty evasion is at a historic low of just 0.6%.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the EU Roadworthiness Directive on the owners of historic vehicles in the UK.
Answered by Stephen Hammond
The Department will shortly start seeking views and evidence from interested organisations, individuals and the devolved administrations on the best way to implement the new rules in Directive 2014/45/EU relating to historic vehicles. We will seek to minimise burdens while supporting road safety. Any changes need not come in to force in domestic legislation until May 2018.