Last week I hosted the annual National Green Apple Awards ceremony in the House of Commons. The awards, now in their 18th year, are run by The Green Organisation and are designed to celebrate best practice in the environment and sustainable development. They cover a huge variety of activities, from making cars greener to protecting honey bees.

I had the honour of presenting awards to winners in the health category. As the largest public sector contributor to carbon emissions in Europe, with a carbon footprint of 21 million tonnes of C02e a year, it is vital that NHS hospitals and other services do all they can to reduce their emmissions.

I was particularly pleased to present a Gold Green Apple Award to University Hospital Leicester for introducing its shuttle bus service. This is now being used by over 12,000 people every week, and has almost halved the number of taxi rides taken by staff and patients between Leicester’s three hospital sites. It is only with the help of clever initiatives like this that we will be able to meet our emission targets and help protect the environment for future generations. I congratulate all the Green Apple winners for getting the recognition they deserve.