To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department has spent to assist road haulage companies to reduce (a) greenhouse gas emissions, (b) other emissions and (c) fuel costs in the last five years. (247555)

The Department for Transport assists the road haulage industry through two key programmes, the Freight Best Practice (FBP) programme and the Safe And Fuel Efficient Driving (SAFED) programme. These provide advice, tools and training programmes which reduce CO₂ and other emissions as a direct consequence of reduced consumption of fossil fuel. We have invested £7 million in FBP and £7.5 million in SAFED since 2003. The latest assessment of the effectiveness of the programmes in 2006 showed them to have saved around 120,000 tonnes of CO₂ and 52,000 tonnes of CO₂ respectively each year since 2005.

The Department for Transport funding for these programmes applies to England only. The current FBP programme has the facility to be supported by funding from the devolved Administrations while maintaining a single management process. This is proving attractive and cost-effective for them with Scotland and Northern Ireland currently funding specific programme activities for their areas.