§ Mr. SayeedTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what the annual rate is at which his Department renews its vehicle fleet, by(a) volume and (b) percentage for each category of (i) vehicle, (ii) type of power unit, and (iii) type of fuel; [97972]
(2) what the annual rate is at which the Army renews its on road vehicle fleet, by (a) volume and (b) percentage for each category of (i) vehicle, (ii) type of power unit, and (iii) type of fuel; [97974]
(3) what the annual rate is at which the Royal Navy renews its on road vehicle fleet, by (a) volume and (b) percentage for each (i) category of vehicle, (ii) type of power unit, and (iii) type of fuel; [97976]
(4) what the annual rate is at which the Royal Air Force renews its on road vehicle fleet, by (a) volume and (b) percentage for each (i) category of vehicle, (ii) type of power unit and (iii) type of fuel. [97978]
§ Mr. IngramThe Ministry of Defence's nonoperational fleet, which might be regarded as the road vehicle fleet, is supplied under the terms of a contract for service provision and the Department does not own the fleet.
1158WMOD also operates a large range of operational vehicle fleets. These fleets are not replaced under a rolling programme, but on the basis of the operational capability requirements of the Department. The information requested is not held centrally for these fleets and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
When procuring new operational vehicles MOD ensures compliance with current domestic and EU legislation and the current NATO single fuel policy. Since the acceptance and implementation of this policy by the UK in 1991, all operational vehicles procured are propelled by diesel engines with the capability to use aviation fuel (Avtur) in operational theatre. All in-service operational vehicles are either fitted with diesel engines or are subject to dieselisation programmes.
§ Mr. SayeedTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what progress has been made, by(a) volume and (b) percentage for each category of (i) vehicle, (ii) type of power unit and (iii) type of fuel, on an annual basis, over each of the past three years, in renewal of his Department's vehicle fleet on a lower emission basis; [97973]
(2) what progress has been made, by (a) volume and (b) percentage for each category of (i) vehicle, (ii) type of power unit and (iii) type of fuel, on an annual basis, over each of the past three years, in renewal of the Royal Navy's vehicle fleet on a lower emission basis; [97977]
(3) what progress has been made, by (a) volume and (b) percentage for each category of (i) vehicle, (ii) type of power unit and (iii) type of fuel, on an annual basis, over each of the past three years, in renewal of the Army's vehicle fleet on a lower emission basis; [97975]
(4) what progress has been made by (a) volume and (b) percentage for each category of (i) vehicle, (ii) type of power unit and (iii) type of fuel, on an annual basis, over each of the past three years, in renewal of the Royal Air Force's vehicle fleet on a lower emission basis. [97979]
§ Dr. MoonieThe Ministry of Defence operates a large and diverse vehicle fleet. The detailed information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Reducing vehicle emissions is a key transport issue, which has been agreed as a priority across Government. Against a baseline year of 2002–03, all Departments are aiming by 31 March 2006 to reduce road transport vehicle carbon dioxide emissions by at least 10 per cent. and requiring at least 10 per cent. of all fleet cars to be alternatively fuelled.
Progress against these targets will be reported in the Sustainable Development in Government annual report. The first full report against the Framework will be in 2003, reporting against the baseline year of 2002–03.
MOD is committed to complying with the letter and spirit of UK air pollution control policy and legislation, including that derived from EC Directives on vehicle emissions. A copy of the relevant Joint Service Publication—418—can be found in the Library of the House.
1159WIn addition, as part of the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate, MOD has published a draft transport strategy, which includes targets and measures to (i) reduce the total business mileage of land-vehicles; (ii) improve the average fuel efficiency of land-vehicles; and (iii) reduce total fuel consumed, including working with our contractors for the non-operational fleet and hire cars to demonstrate increasing use of alternatively fuelled vehicles.
New projects for equipment acquisition are required to adhere to the spirit of the MOD travel strategy.
A copy of the draft MOD travel strategy can be found at: http://www.mod.uk/linked_files/dsef/sus_dev/sdt_strategy.pdf.