HC Deb 10 June 1996 vol 279 cc1-3
1. Mr. Jamieson

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures he intends to take to encourage operators of buses to switch to cleaner fuels. [30587]

The Minister for Transport in London (Mr. Steve Norris)

The Department is collaborating with bus and haulage operators and with other organisations on a series of trials of alternative fuels to provide Government and operators with a sound basis for assessing the relative merits of those fuels.

Meanwhile, to encourage operators to consider converting their vehicles to use road fuel gases, the duty on those fuels was reduced by 15 per cent. in the most recent Budget, with an increase to 100 per cent. in the amount of duty rebated to bus operators. The Chancellor also announced that he would examine the scope for using vehicle excise duty as a further instrument for encouraging low emission vehicles.

Mr. Jamieson

Does the Minister realise the very considerable environmental advantage in buses using compressed natural gas? When the Secretary of State for Transport launched Green Transport Week on Friday, in Leeds, what measures did he propose to give incentives to bus companies such as Southampton City Buses, which has made a considerable contribution to air quality in Leeds by operating 10 per cent. of its fleet with compressed natural gas? What incentives will he give to help bus companies first to convert and, secondly, to set up compression stations so that they can use gas?

Mr. Norris

As parliamentary consultant to the Natural Gas Vehicle Association, the hon. Gentleman will know that the recent changes in duty rates have provided a considerable incentive to operators, particularly public transport operators and municipal vehicle operators, to convert their fleets. They realise the environmental advantages on offer and now find themselves in a much more sympathetic tax environment.

In terms of reverse incentives, there will be much more concentration on roadside emissions tests. There will be more of that blitzing work during the middle of this year, emphasising a clear commitment to trying to improve the quality of vehicle emissions, particularly in public service and heavy goods vehicles.

Mr. Congdon

I very much welcome any moves towards cleaner fuel, particularly in buses, and the comments made by my hon. Friend the Minister about greater efforts in enforcing emissions standards. I am sure that he will have noted when travelling around London that most of the worst pollution that one experiences comes from buses. Will he assure the House that tougher measures will be taken against bus operators who fail properly to maintain their vehicles?

Mr. Norris

Yes, I can give my hon. Friend that assurance. All buses from London bus companies that tender to London Transport Buses are checked very regularly. However, my hon. Friend will know that it needs only one injector to be slightly out of tune to produce an awful lot of emissions. The important thing is that that type of mistuning is corrected at an early opportunity. The accent in the work of London Transport Buses and, generally, by outside private bus operators is on producing cleaner emissions and better quality air.

Mr. Allen

Will the Minister take this opportunity to welcome Green Transport Week? Will he also concede that a state of the art clean and green bus can cost almost £100,000? Will he admit that it is less likely that bus operators will invest in such vehicles if a charabanc belching black smoke can intercept their route, arrive perhaps one minute ahead and undercut them in price? Will the Government introduce proposals to ensure stability in the industry, particularly by ending on-the-road competition? There will be plenty of legislative time, come October, so will he introduce those proposals? If he does, he will have the support of Opposition Members.

Mr. Norris

That proposal should worry the Opposition because it is very silly. As it happens, I am keen to endorse Green Transport Week. It is an excellent initiative and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State attended the launch. Hon. Members on both sides were delighted that it was so well received.

The hon. Gentleman is entirely right to suggest that there is little incentive for an operator to invest £100,000 in a Euro 2 clean engine if that operator faces competition from an operator paying a fraction of the price for a vehicle. But the solution, with the greatest respect, does not lie in seeking to re-regulate the whole industry. That would be an appalling way to take transport policy forward and would mean the loss of many of the benefits that millions of customers now enjoy from services that are there to address the needs of passengers.

What is needed is work on the bus quality partnerships, of which the hon. Gentleman and his colleagues are aware and which have the support both of bus operators and local authorities and local authority associations. By lifting the quality threshold in the bus industry in that way, we can achieve what the hon. Gentleman and I very much want.