SMMT Transport News Brief

Friday, May 12, 2017 - 10:20
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Last week marked local elections for many parts of the country, with some very relevant changes set to have a big impact on our industry as six new mayors have been elected to lead combined authorities in England.

These combined authorities, devolved from central government, will now assume powers over issues such as transport, housing, planning, skills and economic development. While their responsibilities will vary, their 30-year investment fund and immediate responsibility for transport and infrastructure will make this change a very important one for the CV sector.

With this comes a new opportunity to work directly with local government on key industry issues, particularly important for the issue of air quality, if we are to ensure there is not a patchwork of different standards across the UK.

On that very subject, last week government published its draft UK Air Quality Plan and Consultation. It is encouraging to see that the plan clearly states that new Euro 6/VI diesel vehicles will not face a penalty in the UK as well as plans to improve traffic flow and congestion and encourage the uptake of electric and hybrid vehicles.

Our industry is committed to improving air quality across the UK and has spent billions of pounds to develop new low emission vehicles – getting these new much cleaner vans, trucks, buses and cars on to our roads quickly is a key part of this solution. SMMT will be working with government to help encourage rapid uptake of these low emission vehicles – regardless of fuel type.

You can read and respond to the draft Plan and Consultation on the gov.uk website.

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