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Baroness Gale: My Lords, I have just about finished now, I think. Will the Minister give an undertaking that the Government will take that action and, in doing so, will improve the situation on global warming and improve the health of the nation, especially of our children?
Lord Filkin: My Lords, I was rather hoping that my noble friend would not ask such a short Question and therefore I would have been out of time. But I shall have a go at a couple of the specifics. The Government are aware of the Stanford University report and of the argument that diesel soot affects health and has an impact on global warming. Expert opinion suggests that carbon dioxide is by far the most important contributor towards global warming simply because it persists for so long. Therefore, carbon dioxide will be around for 100 years, affecting ozone.
I am sure that the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants will look at the recent Nottingham University study to see whether it runs counter to the experience to date that there is no strong or clear
correlation between exhaust fumes and the incidence of asthma. If so, we shall be keen to study it further, no doubt with more research.
Lord Astor of Hever: My Lords, what proposals do the Government have to reduce the high level of fine particulates on public transport? According to the National Asthma Campaign, passengers on the London Underground are subjected to seven times as much pollution as those on other forms of commuter transport and a 40-minute journey on the Tube is as bad as smoking two cigarettes.
Lord Filkin: My Lords, the noble Lord will be well aware of the Government's central air quality strategy to make a significant further reduction in air particulates generally. He will be aware of the considerable progress that has been made over recent years. Our air is substantially cleaner than it was some years ago. That came as a slight surprise to me when I was briefed for the Question.
With regard to the future, we are currently consulting on targets to reduce by a half the standard that should be aimed at from 40 micrograms per cubic metre to 20 micrograms per cubic metre. That is a severe reduction in the overall target, including a reduction in the London target. Broadly speaking, London Underground will have responsibility, as will others, for contributing towards that significant reduction and improving air quality in the capital. The possibility of further specific issues is an interesting and important question. If there is further information, I shall be pleased to correspond further.
Baroness Scott of Needham Market: My Lords, the Government have recently published regulations giving environmental health officers the power to stop vehicles at the roadside to test for emissions. Is the Minister aware that, in the pilot areas, it has been shown that fines meet only 60 per cent of the costs incurred by local authorities in setting up the tests? Will he please consider ensuring that local authorities are able at least to meet their costs?
Lord Filkin: My Lords, unfortunately, no public policy principle automatically provides that fines must cover detection and enforcement costs. If it did, the treasurer might be a happier chap in the circumstances. Pilots are, however, for exactly that purpose—to see what we can learn from them. If the LGA and local authorities made representations on the issue, I am sure that they would be given appropriate consideration.
Lord Ezra: My Lords, does the Minister agree that a dramatic reduction in particulate emissions in built-up areas could be achieved if buses, taxis and public vehicles generally were to convert from petroleum and diesel engines to alternatives such as biofuels, LPG, natural gas and electric power? Is he aware that that is being done with very positive advantages in other countries?
Lord Filkin: My Lords, the noble Lord is broadly right: if all heavy public transport vehicles operated on
LPG or other fuel sources, particulate emissions would be reduced. However, the Government are not issuing enforcement notices saying that everyone must do that. We are seeking through the tax and fuel regime to provide incentives for vehicle owners and operators to move to types of transport and fuel that are more efficient and emit lower levels of particulates. There is some early evidence that that is bearing good fruit.Sterling Exchange Rate
2.52 p.m.
Lord Tebbit asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they regard the present level of sterling as stable and competitive.
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My Lords, the Government do not comment on day-to-day movements in the foreign exchange market. While the Government do not have a specific exchange rate target, a stable and competitive pound is sought over the medium term.
Lord Tebbit: My Lords, the Minister's Answer comes as no surprise. Does he recollect that on the two occasions when this Question was previously asked, the Government confirmed that although an object of their policy is indeed to have a stable and competitive rate for sterling, they do not know whether the current rate is either stable or competitive? How will the Government know when this desirable, optimal position is reached?
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My Lords, I have had the privilege of answering the noble Lord, Lord Tebbit, once on this matter. My noble friend Lord Davies had the privilege on an earlier occasion. The answer, as the noble Lord knows very well, is the same. We talk about a stable and competitive pound over the medium term because we should not be answering questions about the current exchange rate or about daily changes. As he also knows very well, if certain Ministers—not myself, but perhaps the Chancellor of the Exchequer—were to comment daily on the exchange rate, it might affect that exchange rate. That would not be very desirable.
Lord Peston: My Lords, does my noble friend agree that the exchange rate has been extraordinarily stable for at least the past two years? The question about a stable exchange rate answers itself: we have one.
Lord Tebbit: That is not what the Minister said.
Lord Peston: My Lords, the Minister assumes that the noble Lord can do what I do and look up the data in various government publications.
Is it not also the case that, although the exchange rate is not very competitive for some sectors of the economy—manufacturing is under pressure—it is
extremely competitive for the service sector? Overall, the economy is extremely competitive, as one can tell from the fact that we have no difficulty in financing our overseas borrowing in any manner we wish. The answer to the Question is therefore pretty self-evident.
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My Lords, like my noble friend Lord Peston, I can read the figures, and I am certainly happy to observe what they show. He is entirely right. On the whole, the exchange rate has been pretty stable over a recent period. However, that implies no judgment as to whether it is competitive, which is what the noble Lord, Lord Tebbit, asked. Exchange rates are the result, rather than the cause, of other economic policies. They are the result of low and stable inflation, which this Government have achieved, and the result of stable and sound public finances, which, again, we have achieved.
Lord Kilclooney: My Lords, as the United Kingdom trades more in dollars than in euros, and as the United Kingdom has a greater percentage of its trade in dollars than has the euro zone, is not the sterling-dollar exchange rate more important to United Kingdom business and trade than the sterling-euro exchange rate?
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My Lords, the Bank of England basket of currencies and exchange rates calculated on that basis shows that the euro is more significant than either the dollar or the yen and represents more than half of our trade. I am therefore afraid that the noble Lord is not correct in his initial premise.
Lord Barnett: My Lords, surely my noble friend the Minister will be surprised that, given his vast experience of macroeconomic and financial matters, the noble Lord, Lord Tebbit, does not recognise that the best way of achieving currency stability would be to be inside a single currency, namely the euro. Will my noble friend try to explain that point to the noble Lord?
Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My Lords, I speak for the Government and not for the noble Lord, Lord Tebbit. Indeed, I did not gather from his question even whether he was in favour of a stable and competitive pound.
Lord Newby: My Lords, does the Minister agree—
Lord Saatchi: My Lords, the Minister—
Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: My Lords, I believe that it is the turn of the Liberal Democrat Benches.
Lord Newby: My Lords, does the Minister agree that the best way of achieving both a stable and competitive exchange rate is to be within the euro zone? Does he therefore agree that it would be sensible for the
Government to announce now the date on which a referendum on the issue will take place? If he finds that an unpalatable thought, will he at the very least announce the date on which the Government's assessment of the five economic tests is to be published?
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