Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of cars rented by her Department are (a) electric and (b) UK made; and what steps she is taking to encourage departmental travel conducted in cars manufactured in the UK.

The Department for Transport (DfT) actively encourages staff to use EVs for planned trips, and in addition we mandate that long term vehicle hire (more than 5 days) follows the Government Fleet Commitment to use EVs wherever operationally viable. The DfT has a group-wide car hire contract with Enterprise and so does not hold the information requested.

We encourage and promote the use of UK manufactured vehicles as part of the government’s overall growth agenda, but World Trade Organisation rules prevent us from specifying that vehicles must be manufactured in the UK.