Air Pollution

Lord Krebs Excerpts

Monday 8th April 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

I think noble Lords have heard us talk before about the scrappage schemes. In our view, the evidence of their deliverability and value for money simply is not there. We are not pursuing that currently. However, on the other side, the The Road to Zero strategy, published in 2018, sets out a wide range of things that can be done to move people towards ULE cars and to make sure they have the charging points at which to charge them.

[Lord Krebs (CB)]

My Lords, where I live in the centre of Oxford there is a considerable number of houseboats moored along Oxford Canal, which burn diesel or solid fuel as a form of heating. Could the Minister tell us what steps the Government are taking to restrict this form of air pollution in urban environments?

[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]

The noble Lord makes a very important point: we have already been able to tackle the biggest sources of industrial pollution, and now we are coming on to the more difficult areas. For example, Aviation 2050, which has been published, looks at aeroplanes and what they can do up to 2050; Maritime 2050 is out for consultation, and it will be published shortly. I am not sure whether Maritime 2050 includes houseboats, but I will certainly find out for the noble Lord. There is also rail: what are we doing about our trains, some of which currently run on diesel? This will be published soon. We will be rolling that out by 2040.