Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Volkswagen on irregularities in the levels of carbon dioxide emissions from cars manufactured by that firm; and if he will make a statement.
Andrew Jones
The Government takes the unacceptable actions of Volkswagen (VW) Group extremely seriously. As we investigate what went wrong and what we can do to stop it happening again, the priority of course remains to protect the public. We expect VW to take every step necessary to protect its UK customers, but it is right that the Government carry out their own thorough and independent investigation.
A written statement was made today (10 November) informing the House of the latest developments on the Department for Transport’s vehicle emissions testing programme, following the revelations that VW had fitted defeat devices to some of its vehicles.
The Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) is working to confirm that this issue is not industry wide. They have tested two VW group vehicles known to contain a defeat device and will rerun laboratory tests on popular cars sold in the UK to compare real world driving emissions against laboratory performance. This will include measuring CO2 .
The Secretary of State spoke to Dr Herbert Deiss of VW on 4 November to discuss CO2 emissions, seeking information on those vehicles affected in the UK and the extent of the discrepancy. VW have stated that they are working hard to clarify the situation and are liaising with relevant approval authorities.
The Secretary of State has written jointly with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to VW seeking clarification on several issues. Separately, officials from the Department for Transport, and its Agencies have held a number of discussions with VW regarding the recall of affected vehicles.
The Department for Transport has not made a specific assessment of on road emissions in relation to type approval requirements, but officials are aware of the findings in published reports suggesting significant differences.
