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 his Department has made of the effect of domestic wood burners on levels of particle pollution.

National Statistics regarding emissions of air pollutants in the UK are published annually at the following URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/emissions-of-air-pollutants

The latest statistics estimated 38 per cent of primary emissions of PM _2.5 in the UK came from domestic wood burning sources in 2018. There is an increasing trend in emissions from this source over time. Defra also publishes national statistics on air quality as measured by the national network of air quality monitoring stations; the latest statistics report gives domestic solid fuel burning as a reason for the greatest concentrations of PM _2.5 recorded in the evenings and at weekends. The URL for these statistics is: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/air-quality-statistics

Defra recently published final reports from research to understand burning in UK homes and gardens, which expands the evidence base on solid fuel appliances and how households operate them. The research is published at the following URL: http://sciencesearch.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&ProjectID=20159&FromSearch=Y&Publisher=1&SearchText=AQ1017&SortString=ProjectCode&SortOrder=Asc&Paging=10