Vehicle Emissions (Hansard, 22 November 1994)

§ Mrs. Dunwoody
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what extra resources he has given to the Vehicle Inspectorate to increase the number of vehicle smoke emission tests.

§ Mr. Norris
The level of resources devoted to emission checks has been steadily increased over the past few years. We have asked the Vehicle Inspectorate to use excessive smoke emission as one of the main indicators for targeting vehicles for roadside enforcement checks and to concentrate on emissions standards in its enforcement on private vehicles.

§ Mr. Tyler
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to study which categories of vehicles not designed to the latest standards justify retrofitting with catalysts or particulate traps.

§ Mr. Norris
Research undertaken by the Transport Research Laboratory on behalf of the Department has supported similar conclusions reached in the USA that retrofitting catalysts or particulate traps is not feasible on many types of vehicle. The environmental benefits are difficult to assess, and the costs, given their present state of the development are high. However, as the technology develops, especially that for controlling particulate 119W emissions, this is an area which I intend to keep under review.

§ Mr. Tyler
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to introduce an obligatory emissions test for all cars a year after registration, as part of the annual MOT test.

§ Mr. Norris
No. Such a measure would be unjustified. Most new cars are covered by manufacturers' warranties until they are two or three years old and excessive emissions should not be a problem.

§ Mr. Tyler
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will support more stringent standards being applied for the emissions element of the annual MOT test.

§ Mr. Norris
More stringent standards will be introduced into the MOT test for existing vehicles from 1996. However, it would be unreasonable to expect a vehicle to comply with more stringent in-service emissions levels than it was originally designed to meet.