Asked by: Baroness Wolf of Dulwich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 20 November 2020 (HL10411), whether they will now answer the question put, namely what steps citizens can take to ensure that local authorities are reviewing air quality.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Local authorities have a statutory duty to review and assess air quality in their areas. Local authorities will determine what monitoring is necessary and decide where monitoring takes place with regard to statutory Local Air Quality Management guidance. Under the Local Air Quality Management Framework local authorities are expected to produce and publish annual air quality status reports which are to be submitted annually to Defra. Defra assesses these annual status reports and expects local authorities to take any comments or requirements made by Defra into account.
Local authorities are primarily responsible to their local electorates and will have their own complaints processes. Citizens with concerns or complaints about the way in which a local authority undertakes local air quality statutory duties are therefore advised to raise the issue with the local authority. Ultimately a local authority failing to fulfil statutory duties could be taken to court by interested parties. If a local authority fails to discharge its statutory air quality duties set out in the Environment Act 1995 the Secretary of State of the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has the power to direct a local authority to take such steps as may be specified in the directions.
Asked by: Baroness Wolf of Dulwich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 20 November 2020 (HL10409), what organisation is responsible for dealing with complaints resulting from the annual air quality report produced by local authorities in England.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Local authorities have a statutory duty to review and assess air quality in their areas. Local authorities will determine what monitoring is necessary and decide where monitoring takes place with regard to statutory Local Air Quality Management guidance. Under the Local Air Quality Management Framework local authorities are expected to produce and publish annual air quality status reports which are to be submitted annually to Defra. Defra assesses these annual status reports and expects local authorities to take any comments or requirements made by Defra into account.
Local authorities are primarily responsible to their local electorates and will have their own complaints processes. Citizens with concerns or complaints about the way in which a local authority undertakes local air quality statutory duties are therefore advised to raise the issue with the local authority. Ultimately a local authority failing to fulfil statutory duties could be taken to court by interested parties. If a local authority fails to discharge its statutory air quality duties set out in the Environment Act 1995 the Secretary of State of the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has the power to direct a local authority to take such steps as may be specified in the directions.
Asked by: Baroness Wolf of Dulwich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 23 October (HL9102), whether the Local Air Quality Management framework requires that local authorities monitor air quality in streets into which traffic has been displaced by road closures.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Local Air Quality Management Framework is set out in Part IV of the Environment Act 1995. It requires local authorities to review and assess air quality within their boundaries, and to produce an annual report detailing any monitoring results and any air pollution issues they have identified. This includes assessing impacts of traffic measures which may include monitoring. Where an objective for a specific pollutant is exceeded the local authority must declare an Air Quality Management Area and produce an Air Quality Action Plan to address the exceedance.
Annual reports must be made available to the public and will usually be accessible on the local authority’s website. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs provides support for local authorities to carry out their statutory duties under the framework via statutory guidance and a dedicated helpline.
Asked by: Baroness Wolf of Dulwich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 23 October (HL9101), whether the procedures local authorities should refer to in carrying out Equality Impact Assessment are publicly available; what assessment they have made of the timeframe in which Equality Impact Assessments should be carried out following an experimental road closure; and what steps (1) they, or (2) other affected parties, can take to ensure that such assessments are carried out.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Equality and Human Rights Commission have published the guidance document “Meeting the Equality Duty in Policy and Decision-Making” which is available to all public authorities. Their guide provides advice on how to assess the potential impact on people with protected characteristics of a public authority’s functions, including its policies, practices and decisions.
The Local Air Quality Management Framework is set out in Part IV of the Environment Act 1995. It requires local authorities to review and assess air quality within their boundaries, and to produce an annual report detailing any monitoring results and any air pollution issues they have identified. Where an objective for a specific pollutant is exceeded the local authority must declare an Air Quality Management Area and produce an Air Quality Action Plan to address the exceedance.
Annual reports must be made available to the public and will usually be accessible on the local authority’s website. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs provides support for local authorities to carry out their statutory duties under the framework via statutory guidance and a dedicated helpline.
Local traffic authorities have a statutory duty, under the Traffic Management Act 2004, to manage their networks with the aim of ‘securing the expeditious movement of traffic’. They are responsible for using their knowledge of traffic conditions and the road network in their area to decide on appropriate traffic management policies that balance the needs of local residents, emergency services, local businesses, and those who work in and visit the area. The Department has recently published statutory network management duty guidance for local authorities which emphasises the importance of consultation on road closures and other schemes.
Asked by: Baroness Wolf of Dulwich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 23 October (HL9102), what assessment they have made of the consistency of a local authority’s decision not to monitor air quality data for road closures funded by the Emergency Active Travel Fund with the Local Air Quality Management framework.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Equality and Human Rights Commission have published the guidance document “Meeting the Equality Duty in Policy and Decision-Making” which is available to all public authorities. Their guide provides advice on how to assess the potential impact on people with protected characteristics of a public authority’s functions, including its policies, practices and decisions.
The Local Air Quality Management Framework is set out in Part IV of the Environment Act 1995. It requires local authorities to review and assess air quality within their boundaries, and to produce an annual report detailing any monitoring results and any air pollution issues they have identified. Where an objective for a specific pollutant is exceeded the local authority must declare an Air Quality Management Area and produce an Air Quality Action Plan to address the exceedance.
Annual reports must be made available to the public and will usually be accessible on the local authority’s website. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs provides support for local authorities to carry out their statutory duties under the framework via statutory guidance and a dedicated helpline.
Local traffic authorities have a statutory duty, under the Traffic Management Act 2004, to manage their networks with the aim of ‘securing the expeditious movement of traffic’. They are responsible for using their knowledge of traffic conditions and the road network in their area to decide on appropriate traffic management policies that balance the needs of local residents, emergency services, local businesses, and those who work in and visit the area. The Department has recently published statutory network management duty guidance for local authorities which emphasises the importance of consultation on road closures and other schemes.
Asked by: Baroness Wolf of Dulwich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether details of the Local Air Quality Management framework are publicly available; if so, where; what steps they are taking to ensure that local authorities carry out their duties under this framework; and what steps citizens can take to ensure that local authorities are reviewing air quality.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Equality and Human Rights Commission have published the guidance document “Meeting the Equality Duty in Policy and Decision-Making” which is available to all public authorities. Their guide provides advice on how to assess the potential impact on people with protected characteristics of a public authority’s functions, including its policies, practices and decisions.
The Local Air Quality Management Framework is set out in Part IV of the Environment Act 1995. It requires local authorities to review and assess air quality within their boundaries, and to produce an annual report detailing any monitoring results and any air pollution issues they have identified. Where an objective for a specific pollutant is exceeded the local authority must declare an Air Quality Management Area and produce an Air Quality Action Plan to address the exceedance.
Annual reports must be made available to the public and will usually be accessible on the local authority’s website. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs provides support for local authorities to carry out their statutory duties under the framework via statutory guidance and a dedicated helpline.
Local traffic authorities have a statutory duty, under the Traffic Management Act 2004, to manage their networks with the aim of ‘securing the expeditious movement of traffic’. They are responsible for using their knowledge of traffic conditions and the road network in their area to decide on appropriate traffic management policies that balance the needs of local residents, emergency services, local businesses, and those who work in and visit the area. The Department has recently published statutory network management duty guidance for local authorities which emphasises the importance of consultation on road closures and other schemes.
Asked by: Baroness Wolf of Dulwich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether local authorities are required (1) to consider, and (2) to consult on, traffic displacement in advance of road closures; and whether local authorities are required to monitor congestion in streets adjacent to closed roads.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Equality and Human Rights Commission have published the guidance document “Meeting the Equality Duty in Policy and Decision-Making” which is available to all public authorities. Their guide provides advice on how to assess the potential impact on people with protected characteristics of a public authority’s functions, including its policies, practices and decisions.
The Local Air Quality Management Framework is set out in Part IV of the Environment Act 1995. It requires local authorities to review and assess air quality within their boundaries, and to produce an annual report detailing any monitoring results and any air pollution issues they have identified. Where an objective for a specific pollutant is exceeded the local authority must declare an Air Quality Management Area and produce an Air Quality Action Plan to address the exceedance.
Annual reports must be made available to the public and will usually be accessible on the local authority’s website. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs provides support for local authorities to carry out their statutory duties under the framework via statutory guidance and a dedicated helpline.
Local traffic authorities have a statutory duty, under the Traffic Management Act 2004, to manage their networks with the aim of ‘securing the expeditious movement of traffic’. They are responsible for using their knowledge of traffic conditions and the road network in their area to decide on appropriate traffic management policies that balance the needs of local residents, emergency services, local businesses, and those who work in and visit the area. The Department has recently published statutory network management duty guidance for local authorities which emphasises the importance of consultation on road closures and other schemes.
Asked by: Baroness Wolf of Dulwich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether local authorities have any obligation to monitor the impact on air quality of road closures, whether experimental or permanent, including in adjacent roads to which traffic may be displaced.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
It is for local authorities to ensure that any changes they propose to make to road layouts are delivered in line with relevant legislation, consultation and noticing requirements.
The Emergency Active Travel Fund (EATF) was announced on 9 May and included £225 million of funding in two tranches for local authorities in England. Alongside the funding, the Government published additional Network Management Duty guidance. This clearly set out what the Government expects local authorities to do in making changes to their road layouts to encourage cycling and walking in response to Covid-19 and to support a green restart and recovery. These measures included road closures, for example to create low-traffic neighbourhoods.
The guidance is clear that the Public Sector Equality Duty still applies, and in making any changes to their road networks, authorities must consider the needs of disabled people and those with other protected characteristics, for example by carrying out Equality Impact Assessments on proposed schemes.
It is for local authorities to ensure any such assessments are carried out in line with relevant procedures.
The Local Air Quality Management regime requires that local authorities review and assess air quality in their area. This will normally include monitoring pollution levels especially where the local authority assesses that air quality objectives may be exceeded.
Asked by: Baroness Wolf of Dulwich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) how traffic congestion has been monitored in England, (2) what data they have collected, and (3) what data they have published, about such monitoring since 2015.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Department for Transport produces statistics on road congestion on the Strategic Road Network (SRN) and local ‘A’ roads in England. These statistics, used to monitor road congestion and journey time reliability, are compiled from journey time data from in-vehicle global positioning systems (GPS).
The statistics report two measures of congestion- average speed as an estimate of the physical level of congestion and average delay which is the difference between speed limit (SRN) or free flow (local ‘A’ roads) travel times and average journey times.
Statistics from April 2015 onwards for congestion on the SRN and January 2014 onwards for local ‘A’ roads are published online as part of the 'Road congestion and travel times' collection on gov.uk.
Asked by: Baroness Wolf of Dulwich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish regulations requiring (1) the assessment of the impact of experimental road closures on protected characteristic groups, and (2) the mitigating action in the event of an adverse impact on those groups.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
It is for local authorities to ensure that any changes they propose to make to road layouts are delivered in line with relevant legislation, consultation and noticing requirements.
The Emergency Active Travel Fund (EATF) was announced on 9 May and included £225 million of funding in two tranches for local authorities in England. Alongside the funding, the Government published additional Network Management Duty guidance. This clearly set out what the Government expects local authorities to do in making changes to their road layouts to encourage cycling and walking in response to Covid-19 and to support a green restart and recovery. These measures included road closures, for example to create low-traffic neighbourhoods.
The guidance is clear that the Public Sector Equality Duty still applies, and in making any changes to their road networks, authorities must consider the needs of disabled people and those with other protected characteristics, for example by carrying out Equality Impact Assessments on proposed schemes.
It is for local authorities to ensure any such assessments are carried out in line with relevant procedures.
The Local Air Quality Management regime requires that local authorities review and assess air quality in their area. This will normally include monitoring pollution levels especially where the local authority assesses that air quality objectives may be exceeded.