Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Minister of State for Transport of 23 February 2017, Official Report, column 1147, if he will provide an update to the House within the next month on (a) whether the Government plans to bring forward criminal charges and (b) what support he is providing for the private prosecution being brought by consumers to force Volkswagen to do the right thing.
Answered by John Hayes
The government wants Volkswagen to face the appropriate legal consequences for their actions. The Secretary of State plans to travel to Berlin to meet with our German counterparts to discuss this important issue. We expect that the vast majority of the wrongdoing took place in Germany and so it is appropriate that the German authorities lead the investigation. However we have not ruled out launching our own criminal investigation.
I have met with representatives of legal firms preparing civil action against Volkswagen and am considering their requests for assistance. I will be updating the House, as appropriate, in due course.