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 has he made of the effectiveness of the steps his Department is taking to help ensure that local authorities reach legally-compliant standards in air quality.

Under the 2017 UK Plan for Tackling Roadside Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Concentrations, Government assesses whether local authorities in the NO2 Programme have successfully delivered a reduction in NO2 concentrations. The programme’s evaluation also helps understand the effectiveness and impacts of Local NO2 Plan measures.

In addition, the Secretary of State is required to lay a statement before Parliament each year, under section 80A of the Environment Act 1995, setting out an assessment of the progress made in meeting our wider air quality standards and objectives as well as the steps taken in support of meeting those standards and objectives.

The last Written Ministerial Statement to this effect was laid in Parliament on 13 July 2023. In accordance with this requirement, the Secretary of State will provide a further update to the House on our progress as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of the financial year in 2024.