Bishop Steven addressed the House of Lords on 16 October as part of a debate on the Environment and Climate Change Committee report EV strategy: rapid recharge needed.
My Lords I warmly welcome this debate, as a member of the Environment and Climate Change (ECC) Committee which produced the report. I pay tribute to Baroness Parminter for her introduction to the debate and to her very wise, careful, gracious and patient leadership of the Committee over its first three years.
My Lords, my experience of serving on the ECC Committee over three years was that each of the challenges we addressed proved to be both more significant and much more complex that we first appreciated. It was a tremendous learning curve that each issue had multiple questions and problems associated with it, and needed complex solutions. This was clearly the case with the EV Report before the House today. Some very good work has been done by the previous government, by manufacturers and local authorities but much more needs to be done and urgently to keep this transition on track.
The need to give urgency to this transition is vital. The effects of climate change across the world are accelerating as all of us in this chamber recognise, often affecting those who have least, who are least resilient, and whose emissions in the present and in the past have been the least. Surface transport is the UK’s highest emitting sector with passenger cars responsible for over half the sector’s emissions. The new government surely needs to do all it can to accelerate this transition, alongside the vital transition to renewable energy.
So what does our new government intend to do? The Labour manifesto for the General Election mentions three key steps:
- accelerating the roll out of charge points;
- restoring the phase out date of 2030 for new cars with internal combustion engines;
- and supporting buyers of second-hand electric cars by standardising information – the second-hand car market is key and complex.
These are welcome steps, and I would ask the Minister as others have done to comment on when we will see action on each of these points. However, as I am sure the Minister will recognise, and as the report makes clear, these steps are not enough by themselves.
So may I ask for a response and for action on two further areas.
The first is what will the government do to ensure that the transition to EVs, as part of the transition to net zero, is a fair transition? I commend that word, fair, to the government, if I may – it doesn’t feature in this part of the manifesto. In particular how will the government ensure parity of pricing and taxation for those able to charge their EVs at home and those who need to use a commercial charging service? 40% of the country will not have access to a home charge point. There is at present no viable solution to ensure parity, and I agree that our Committee was not able to offer one. It will require some radical and imaginative thinking. How will the government address this key question of fairness?
Second, how will the government lead and encourage the transition to EVs through better communication and co-ordination across government? The Committee conducted its enquiry through a period when the government was rowing back from previous commitments and sending very mixed messages to the markets, manufacturers and consumers. We are I think still waiting for a sense of how the new government will respond in terms of encouragement, accurate information and co-ordination of policy goals and delivery. What task force or structures will the government put in place to ensure this for the future?
The transition to EVs is a potential revolution in our road transport, our economy and public health over the next decade. How will the government rapidly recharge this sector into the future?
