§ John BarrettTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of official vehicles used by his Department are run on(a) petrol, (b) diesel, (c) liquid petroleum gas and (d) compressed natural gas. [172769]
§ Mr. CaplinI refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office (Mr. Alexander) on 25 May 2004,Official Report, column 1538W. The Government have signed up to various targets for improving the performance of its own vehicle fleet, details of which, together with reports on each Department's progress towards these targets, are available at www.sustainable-development.gov.uk.
The Ministry of Defence's Ministerial vehicles are provided by the Government Car Service (GCS). Detailed information on the breakdown of the GCS vehicle fleet is being provided separately.
The MOD's non-operational fleet, which might be regarded as the official vehicle fleet, is supplied under the terms of contracts for service provision and is not owned by the Department. It is not therefore possible to provide a breakdown of vehicles used by fuel type.
The MOD also operates a large range of operational vehicle fleets. 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 will run on diesel or kerosene type fuels. For older vehicles, conversion programmes have been undertaken where this represents a cost-effective option for the remaining life of the fleet.