Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and East Dulwich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support his Department provides to local authorities to improve air quality.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Local authorities already have responsibilities and many powers to monitor and reduce air pollution. Local authorities have been able to apply for grants from the Clean Air Fund. Recognising that there are still local authorities which are in breach of statutory limits on roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations, the UK government allocated £495 million of funding to support local authorities in its 2017 plan. This is part of the £3.5 billion investment into air quality and cleaner transport which has supported local authorities, including in London.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and East Dulwich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce the level of air pollution in (a) the UK (b) London and (c) Lewisham West & Penge constituency.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Air pollution is reducing in the UK, as set out in the annual National Statistics report at the following URL:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/air-quality-statistics
There are 170 national monitoring stations in the UK, of which 16 stations are in London and 1 in Lewisham West and Penge constituency. Near real-time measurements from these sites and further data tools can be found on the UK-AIR website (https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/).
In July 2017 we published the UK Plan for Tackling Roadside Nitrogen Dioxide Concentrations, setting out how we will achieve compliance in the shortest possible time, supported by a £3.5 billion investment in air quality and cleaner transport.
On 14 January 2019 we announced our world leading Clean Air Strategy. The Strategy focuses on the five most damaging air pollutants: ammonia, fine particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, non-methane volatile organic compounds, and includes new and ambitious goals, legislation, investment and policies which will help us to clean up our air faster and more effectively.
Measurements at stations in London on the national monitoring network show a general long-term reduction in air pollution. The London Boroughs also carry out local air quality monitoring as part of the Local Air Quality Management process and produce annual reports on the status of air quality within the Borough area. The Mayor is responsible for air quality in the capital and has reserve powers under Part IV of the Environment Act 1995 to reflect this. These powers enable the Mayor to take a broad range of actions, particularly in relation to transport.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and East Dulwich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of air pollution in (a) the UK, (b) London and (c) Lewisham West & Penge constituency.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Air pollution is reducing in the UK, as set out in the annual National Statistics report at the following URL:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/air-quality-statistics
There are 170 national monitoring stations in the UK, of which 16 stations are in London and 1 in Lewisham West and Penge constituency. Near real-time measurements from these sites and further data tools can be found on the UK-AIR website (https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/).
In July 2017 we published the UK Plan for Tackling Roadside Nitrogen Dioxide Concentrations, setting out how we will achieve compliance in the shortest possible time, supported by a £3.5 billion investment in air quality and cleaner transport.
On 14 January 2019 we announced our world leading Clean Air Strategy. The Strategy focuses on the five most damaging air pollutants: ammonia, fine particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, non-methane volatile organic compounds, and includes new and ambitious goals, legislation, investment and policies which will help us to clean up our air faster and more effectively.
Measurements at stations in London on the national monitoring network show a general long-term reduction in air pollution. The London Boroughs also carry out local air quality monitoring as part of the Local Air Quality Management process and produce annual reports on the status of air quality within the Borough area. The Mayor is responsible for air quality in the capital and has reserve powers under Part IV of the Environment Act 1995 to reflect this. These powers enable the Mayor to take a broad range of actions, particularly in relation to transport.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and East Dulwich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of of the potential merits of introducing traffic exclusion zones near (a) schools, (b) nurseries and (c) playgrounds to help reduce children’s exposure to exhaust fumes.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Local authorities and the Mayor for London already have powers regarding traffic and roads. Their local knowledge and interaction with the communities that they serve mean that they are better able to know the issues on ground in detail, and the solutions that may be necessary or appropriate to the locality.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs sets out the national policy framework for tackling harmful air pollution.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and East Dulwich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of air pollution on the (a) short-term and (b) long-term of (i) public health and (ii) the level of non-communicable disease mortality.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Long-term exposure to air pollution reduces life expectancy by increasing deaths from cardiovascular and respiratory conditions and from lung cancer.
Short term peaks in air pollution are also associated with a range of adverse health effects including exacerbation of asthma, effects on lung function as well as increases in daily mortality and hospital admissions (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/comeap-quantification-of-mortality-and-hospital-admissions-associated-with-ground-level-ozone).
Defra’s Daily Air Quality Index (https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/air-pollution/daqi) assists in understanding air pollution levels and suggests recommended actions and health advice. Such advice applies to anyone experiencing symptoms.
The latest report from the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution (COMEAP), an expert committee of the Department of Health and Social Care, estimated that long-term exposure to man-made pollution in the UK has an annual effect equivalent to 28,000 to 36,000 deaths (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nitrogen-dioxide-effects-on-mortality). COMEAP has recently provided advice on the effects of air pollution on cardiovascular disease (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/air-pollution-and-cardiovascular-disease-mechanistic-evidence) and is currently assessing the evidence in relation to cognitive decline.
Public Health England (PHE) has also estimated the fraction of adult mortality attributable to long-term exposure to particulate air pollution at local authority level (https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/public-health-outcomes-framework).
PHE have undertaken research (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/air-pollution-a-tool-to-estimate-healthcare-costs) to quantify the effect of air pollution on the incidence of disease and, therefore, the costs to health and social care services. These modelled data shows that reducing the concentration of PM2.5 by 1 µg/m3 in England in a single year can prevent around 50,000 cases of coronary heart disease, 15,000 strokes, 9,000 cases of asthma and 4,000 lung cancers over the following 18 years.
Asked by: Ellie Reeves (Labour - Lewisham West and East Dulwich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing targets for the reduction of air pollution.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
As set out in our Clean Air Strategy, we will set an ambitious, long-term target to reduce people’s exposure to particulate matter (PM), which the World Health Organization (WHO) has identified as the most damaging pollutant. To inform development of this new target, the government will publish evidence early this year on what action would be needed to meet WHO guidelines.