Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 39816 on Nitrogen Dioxide: Pollution Control, in which year the South East non-agglomeration zone is expected to become compliant.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Predicting when locations will comply with the annual mean limit value for nitrogen dioxide is inherently uncertain. Our current estimates reflect the impact of agreed local Clean Air Plans and are based on 2023 data from Defra’s national monitoring networks and national modelling, as well as local authority-owned air quality monitoring and modelling. 2023 is the most recent year of fully ratified monitoring data available. As additional years of data become available or where additional measures are agreed some of these predictions are likely to change. Current estimates for when the following reporting zones will become compliant are:
West Midlands Urban Area | 2032 |
Bristol Urban Area | 2031 |
Sheffield Urban Area | 2031 |
The Potteries | 2032 |
South East | 2028 |
West Yorkshire Urban Area | 2029 |
Coventry and Bedworth | 2026 |
Liverpool Urban Area | 2029 |
Greater London Urban Area | 2024 |
Greater Manchester Urban Area | 2026 |
Nottingham Urban Area | 2024 |
Portsmouth Urban Area | 2026 |
Reading and Wokingham Urban Area | 2024 |
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 39816 on Nitrogen Dioxide: Pollution Control, which road links within 10 miles of Heathrow Airport are expected to exceed the nitrogen dioxide limit value in each of the last five calendar years of their non-compliance period.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The most recent national compliance assessment for 2023 did not report any road links within 10 miles of Heathrow Airport to be in exceedance of the annual mean limit value for nitrogen dioxide.
Local monitoring as part of the Local Air Quality Management (LAQM) process shows a small number of measurements in 2023 above 40µg/m3 at sites within a 10-mile radius of Heathrow Airport. There were single measurement sites above 40µg/m3 in the London Boroughs of Brent (A404), Wandsworth (A3), Richmond (A205), Merton (A219) and Kensington & Chelsea (A3220), and three measurement sites in Ealing (A4020, A40 and A406). National Highways’ assessments also indicated concentrations above 40µg/m3 at four road links on the Strategic Road Network (SRN). These are in the London Boroughs of Hounslow (two road links on the M4), Hillingdon (M4), and Spelthorne (A316). Air quality assessments under LAQM are assessed differently to the national assessment as they are focused on targeting local pollution hotspots which may occur in locations that don’t meet the data quality requirements for the national assessment.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 39816 on Nitrogen Dioxide: Pollution Control, which road links within 10 miles of Gatwick airport are expected to exceed the nitrogen dioxide limit value in each of the last five calendar years of their non-compliance period.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The most recent national compliance assessment for 2023 did not report any road links within 10 miles of Gatwick Airport to be in exceedance of the annual mean limit value for nitrogen dioxide. There were also no exceedances reported through the Local Air Quality Management process in 2023.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 39816 on Nitrogen Dioxide: Pollution Control, whether he has held discussions with the Office for Environmental Protection on the timescales for expected compliance of each reporting zone.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There have been no discussions with the Office for Environmental Protection on this topic.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Air Quality Standard Regulations 2010 in achieving reductions in nitrogen dioxide levels in ambient air.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are currently no plans to assess the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010. We assess the effectiveness of schemes to reduce nitrogen dioxide through the NO2 Programme’s evaluation programme. In addition, the revised Environmental Improvement Plan, due to be published later this year will review and clarify targets set under the Environment Act 2021.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 39816 on Nitrogen Dioxide: Pollution Control, whether his answer is consistent with the 2023 National Compliance Assessment.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The answer to Question 39816 was based on a combination of data from the 2023 national compliance assessment and additional local monitoring data that does not typically meet the requirements for formal national reporting but was included in the response for completeness. The national assessment is designed to meet the location and data quality requirements of the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010 which seek to represent general exposure to air pollution, rather than local pollution hotspots. For this reason, the answer to Question 39816 captured some additional locations where nitrogen dioxide concentrations in 2023 were above 40µg/m3.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 39816 on Nitrogen Dioxide: Pollution Control, which localised hotspot is expected to delay compliance with the nitrogen dioxide limit value in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The localised hotspot in Newcastle-upon-Tyne is located on Stephenson Road A1058. The high nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations observed here are due to several local factors including high traffic volumes, queuing traffic, an incline in the road that requires vehicle acceleration and overhanging trees that partially trap pollution. There is considerable uncertainty in the estimate of when this location will become compliant with the annual mean NO2 limit value. The rest of Newcastle-upon-Tyne is expected to become compliant by 2029.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 39816 on Nitrogen Dioxide: Pollution Control, which road links within the South East non-agglomeration zone are expected to exceed the nitrogen dioxide limit value in each of the last five calendar years of the non-compliance period.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The most recent national compliance assessment for 2023 reported one road link in the South East non-agglomeration zone as being in exceedance of the annual mean limit value for nitrogen dioxide. This road link is a stretch of the A34 in the Vale of White Horse. We don’t hold up-to-date detailed modelled projections to predict the impact of all current policies on future NO2 concentrations, however current indicative estimates suggest that this road link will become compliant with the limit value in 2028.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much has been paid to farmers to improve environmental sustainability since 2016.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government spent £3.745 billion on Environmental Stewardship, Countryside Stewardship and the Sustainable Farming Incentive from 2016 up to 28 February 2025 to improve environmental sustainability. An additional £36 million has been paid through the England Woodland Creation Offer.
Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (a) where and (b) how standards apply in statutory regulations to control concentrations of pollutants in ambient air in England.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The key legislation that details how and where air pollutant concentration standards apply in England are the Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010 and the Environment Act Targets (Fine Particulate Matter) Targets (England) 2023. Requirements for local air quality management are set out in the Environment Act 1995 requiring local authorities to review and assess air quality concentrations in their areas.