Road Vehicle Carbon Dioxide Emission Performance Standards (Cars, Vans and Heavy Duty Vehicles) (Amendment) Regulations 2022

Considered in Grand Committee

Moved by

That the Grand Committee do consider the Road Vehicle Carbon Dioxide Emission Performance Standards (Cars, Vans and Heavy Duty Vehicles) (Amendment) Regulations 2022.

My Lords, there are two statutory instruments being considered together in this debate. I will begin with the regulations on vehicle type approval, as the carbon dioxide emissions instrument is being made as a consequence of the type- approval instrument.

As the department responsible for vehicle regulation, we have conducted intensive work to ensure that there continues to be a functioning legislative framework for this crucial sector of the economy. The EU type-approval scheme for road vehicles, such as cars, buses and goods vehicles, is being converted to an independent GB type-approval scheme, replacing the current interim arrangements whereby EU type approvals have been accepted following scrutiny by the Vehicle Certification Agency—the VCA. Alongside this, these regulations continue interim arrangements for motorcycles, agricultural tractors and machinery engines.

The purpose of type-approval legislation is to enforce prescribed safety and environmental standards. EU law previously set out the regimes under which a new vehicle, engine or part was required to be tested. Most of the standards come from an international body, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, or the UNECE, and the UK will of course continue to play a prominent role in this organisation.

The Road Vehicles and Non-Road Mobile Machinery (Type-Approval) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, debated in your Lordships’ House on 20 February 2019, introduced an interim provisional approval regime lasting two years, until the end of 2022. This required motor vehicle manufacturers to submit an EU type approval to the VCA to permit registration. Trailers, machinery engines and replacement parts continued to need an EU type approval.

Under the withdrawal Act, the EU law on type approval is retained in UK law. There are around 2,500 pages setting out detailed technical standards for cars, buses and goods vehicles. This SI corrects deficiencies and creates a GB type approval, although I emphasise that, at present, the technical standards are essentially identical to those in the EU, so for manufacturers this is initially an administrative exercise.

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her introduction. It is a matter of supporting the 2022 regulations. It is clean, green and 21st-century. I rise on the principle that the Executive should always be questioned by the Back-Bencher—by the legislature. That is a parliamentary principle of long standing, and I am simply taking this opportunity, knowing that time is of the essence.

Paragraph 7.1 of the helpful Explanatory Memorandum, on the policy background, is very blunt and to the point. Paragraph 12.5, under the heading “Rationale”, is a helpful foundation statement, which no doubt the department has worked hard to produce.

What is the department’s estimate of the number of vehicles on our roads that now follow the April 2019 regulations of the EU Parliament and the EU Council? I presume that many do not—and legally. I am sure the Minister will tell me in her reply.

The Minister mentioned consultations, which is a big plus. In proposing these regulations, what consultations has she had with the Mayor of London? Maybe there were none.

Looking at the road vehicles EU exit regulations—they are numbered “XXX”—I found them a bewildering plethora of initials. In a way, they are as long as Hilary Mantel’s novels and quite bewildering in their detail—but this is a detailed issue. The DVLA is a huge employer in greater Swansea. As a member of my noble friend Lord Kinnock’s shadow Cabinet, I recollect that we heard proposals to move the DVLA to England. They never materialised, of course—it would not have been seen as a positive move—but, without a doubt, the DVLA is a major employer. All of Britain much depends on it. Can the Minister say how many people are now employed at the DVLA in Morriston, Swansea?

Lastly, in paragraph 7.8 on page 6 of the Explanatory Memorandum, there are quite a few references, direct or otherwise, to the Secretary of State’s powers. Considerable influence is being granted there. The Minister might wish to indicate why that should be so. Also, in paragraph 6.21, we see the word “probably”. That is not very exact; perhaps we could have a reply on that via officials, if not directly from the Minister. That paragraph also contains the phrase “in the time available”. That seems somewhat up in the air; perhaps it is slipping through without explanation, in that sense. Time is of the essence. The Minister was persuasive and comprehensive. I conclude.

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her introduction. I suggest to her that it should be obligatory for any of her ministerial colleagues who thought that Brexit was a good idea to read through these regulations line by line. I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Jones, on his determination in managing to do that because it really is a pretty mind-bending process to come to terms with this instrument.

This is a classic case of many hours of lawyers’ time having already been spent, and even more hours of manufacturers’ and retailers’ time being needed in future months and years, to get detailed but essential standards transposed from EU law in UK/Great Britain law and for everyone involved to understand exactly how they will work. The Explanatory Memorandum explains that, for very good reasons, there will have to be delays and waivers for some regulations as manufacturers desperately try to get to grips with a complex new situation.

For that reason, I am amazed that no full impact assessment has been made. This issue affects everyone from major manufacturers to the hundreds of small producers who supply them. Fifteen organisations were consulted and managed to produce 69 responses—that was pretty clever as a response rate, I thought—yet the financial impact of this measure is supposed to be less than £5 million. That is just ridiculous.

There is a side issue among the real pot-pourri of issues in this document, which is a totally different factor: the removal of the maximum height for HGVs. We have discussed this here before and I am aware that Network Rail is very concerned by the impact of bridge strikes on their services. This height relaxation will inevitably mean more bridge strikes. What consultation has been undertaken with Network Rail about the now permanent relaxation of HGV heights?

I return to the core issue of concern: the creation of a GB type-approval scheme by the end of 2027, with divergence from EU standards. This will apply to a wide range of vehicles and their associated machinery. To start with the principle behind this, can I ask about this date? It is at odds with the end of 2023, which has now been thrown into the melting pot as the date for the end of existing EU law in Great Britain’s law. Everything has to be reviewed by the end of 2023 and will either be accepted or rejected by then. How does the 2027 date fit in with the 2023 date?

I ask a basic question: why would one want a separate GB scheme? Has this been agreed as a sensible course of action with environmental regulators and manufacturers, and what is its policy intention? Is it to achieve higher environmental standards or not to have to raise them every time the EU does? What impact will having separate and different standards in the UK have on the ability of manufacturers to sell overseas? Was there a specific consultation about this or are we just creating a new paper mountain?

Paragraph 6.2 of the Explanatory Memorandum casually refers to 4,500-plus pages

“of retained EU law … in the fields of motor vehicle and machinery engine type approval”.

All those pages of details have been reached after painful years of cross-European consultation. I emphasise the point just referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Jones: a great deal of power is being given to the Secretary of State here. This does not or should not just replace the EU regulations without the due process of consultation and verification that has taken place over years in Europe. We cannot have a Secretary of State who simply says “yes” and rubber-stamps something different in Britain. Has anyone drawn this issue to the attention of those people in Government who are pressing for all EU law to fall by the end of 2023? It strikes me that this date is not realistic.

Separately, I am concerned by the plethora of dates in this. I have detected the following dates, and I am not sure this list is comprehensive. Various places refer to December 2022—this is the sunset clause; that is why we have it—the date for revocation in the new Bill is 2023; and passenger, car, bus and goods vehicles have issues referring to 1 February 2024. Some provisional approvals then lapse on 1 February 2026. Then there is the end of 2027, when the Government’s GB-type approval scheme will come in, except for trailers, which have two years longer. On top of that, there are a series of waivers for certain situations where manufacturers have basically said, “Help! We can’t cope.” It is a mess.

Added to that, we have the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, which covers 75%-plus of approvals. No wonder manufacturers are begging for extra time. All this simply distracts them from the core thing we should be encouraging them to do, which is to work towards ever higher and better environmental standards. I am old enough to remember the mess that our car industry was in in the 1970s and 1980s. In the past 30 years, we have seen a tremendous success story with the rebuilding of our car industry. I fear that we are in grave danger of losing what has been a great success story for Britain with the type of approach that we have here.

I turn briefly to the CO₂ emission performance standards, which do three things. First, they correct an error in the formula. I have a question for the Minister: is there any evidence that that has had a practical impact? Has it been a problem? It illustrates how difficult it is to do all this sort of work at pace in so much detail without making mistakes. Secondly, they update standards according to the latest—2019—EU regulations. Thirdly, they expand the references to include a broader range of types of approval references now needed following Brexit. That is important for the control of CO₂ emissions.

As ever, Brexit has made this more complicated because we now have EU, GB and UK(NI) type approvals. Even if there are changes to the protocol, surely we will need to continue to adhere to EU regulations because the EU is our major export market. These regulations demonstrate the dilemma that the Government face: the need to update to the latest and best standards in order for our manufacturers to compete. It makes the Bill to revoke EU law by the end of 2023 look ridiculous, to be honest.

I have a very specific question about the Department for Transport’s progress. I referred earlier to the 4,500 pages. I ask this question because, as the Minister knows, we have been here for many hours in the past couple of years transposing all this legislation, recasting it and, in some cases, going into contortions in order to make it fit. We are now going to have to do it again. I am a member of the Common Frameworks Scrutiny Committee. We had a ministerial letter this week that referred to the fact that the National Archives are being called into play to trace EU law in order to ensure that it is all found. How is the Department for Transport is getting on with tracking EU law and coming to terms with the task it faces in the next year?

My Lords, I, too, thank the Minister for presenting these two SIs. I welcome these instruments in relation to approval for road vehicles and, specifically, the creation of GB type approval. As a result, cars, buses and goods vehicles will be required to transition into GB type-approval schemes by no later than 1 February 2026.

I begin by asking the Minister to explain what engagement the department is undertaking with manufacturers, particularly smaller businesses, to make them aware of the new approval regime. Similarly, the instrument will make new approvals first available from 1 January 2023. Given that that is now only one month away, is the Minister confident that the DfT is fully prepared? What resources have been allocated?

Turning to a separate issue, the regulations relating to carbon dioxide emission performance standards amend a reference to an EU type approval to reflect the creation of the GB type-approval scheme. Can the Minister confirm that this aims to provide continuity, rather than a separate change of policy?

We will not oppose these regulations but I hope that the Minister can clarify these issues a little further.

I am grateful to all noble Lords who have taken part in this short debate. I will endeavour to answer as many questions as possible. As ever, I am fairly sure that a letter will be forthcoming afterwards because I am also fairly sure that there will more information that I need to tell noble Lords.

I will start with the noble Lord, Lord Jones, who asked for an estimate of the number of vehicles now on the road that would be covered by the 2019 regulations. There are about 4 million; basically, anything that entered into service in 2020-21 would have been covered by the 2019 regulations.

The noble Lord went on to talk about consultation, as did the noble Lord, Lord Tunnicliffe. There has been an enormous amount of consultation and engagement with the industry around type approval. It is incredibly important so, over the past two years, we have consulted with the industry—including the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which is very effective in what it does, the Motorcycle Industry Association and the Agricultural Engineers Association —and with both individual manufacturers and their suppliers, because the supply chain for vehicle manufacturing can be long. This has informed the development of the scheme as well as providing the opportunity to help manufacturers to prepare for any changes.

We also consulted formally in the summer. The feedback that we received has been incorporated into the statutory instrument. The main feedback received from the industry was that it needed more time to prepare. We were pleased to give it that; we therefore delayed by seven months the date we had proposed for new models to obtain approval. We also permitted selected waivers to run for a little longer than originally proposed, giving the industry more time to adapt.

We have been engaging with the industry on this for such a long time. For example, the Vehicle Certification Agency—the VCA—has been running workshops throughout the year to ensure that stakeholders understand the approval process and are ready for its implementation. All in all, the vehicle manufacturers are largely content with the approach and the level of continuity—this is in essence continuity—that we have provided. They are familiar with type approval as a regulatory process because they are well aware of the EU type-approval process, and they are keen that Britain continues to regulate via this mechanism rather than other mechanisms that are used elsewhere in the world. We have not specifically consulted the Mayor of London specifically. We have focused very much on consultation with the industry; it is important that we do so.