Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of the recommendations and conclusions of the report of the Institute for Mechanical Engineers, UK freight: in for the long haul, published in June 2016; and if he will make a statement.

The Government has plans to benefit freight and ease congestion on road and rail networks. The Government has developed policies relevant to freight through the freight carbon review, a transport infrastructure skills strategy and a maritime growth study. We also work closely with stakeholders on policy development, for example work related to rail freight is in progress. The Government is committed to tackling pollution and reducing emissions in transport, and our Air Quality Action Plan outlines how we will make our air cleaner. We have seen major improvements in air quality over the past two decades and more than £2 billion has been invested in greener transport and other clean air measures since 2011.

The road freight industry is a commercial and, in many cases, low margin industry, under a strong incentive to keep empty running to a minimum.