Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Statement of 10 November 2015, HCWS301, (a) how many Volkswagon vehicles have been retested to date, (b) how many such vehicles he expects to be retested and (c) what the findings were of the retest in relation to discrepancies in (i) nitrogen oxide and (ii) carbon dioxide emission figures; what recent estimate he has made of the cost of the retest programme; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones

Two Skoda vehicles (from the Volkswagen Group), of a type identified by the manufacturer as having defeat devices fitted, have been tested. These tests were to determine the potential for a wider test programme to identify the presence of a defeat device.

We are not planning to retest any further Volkswagen group vehicles that are known to have defeat devices fitted but the Vehicle Certification Agency will test vehicles presented by Skoda (and at Skoda’s expense) to verify that the technical solution proposed ensures that the affected vehicles operate in accordance with the regulatory requirements.

We do not have firm numbers for these preliminary tests in relation to nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide as they were not designed to provide absolute measurement, but to validate a test procedure for the wider programme.

We have approved a budget of £675,000 from public funds to ensure that this important work can proceed. However, we have agreed with ministers in Germany and in France that we will collaborate to avoid duplication of testing and secure best value for the taxpayer.