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 adequacy of financial support allocated to local authorities in England to help tackle toxic air.

Local authorities receive grant in aid funding to carry out their statutory local air quality duties. Any new burdens placed on local authorities through the air quality measures in the Environment Bill will be funded by Defra as per the new burdens principle.

In addition, Defra’s Air Quality Grant programme provides funding to local authorities for projects in local communities to tackle air pollution. The Government has awarded nearly £70 million in funding since the air quality grant started in 1997.

To tackle local nitrogen dioxide exceedances, we are providing £880 million to help local authorities develop and implement local air quality plans and to support those impacted by these plans. We have supported the retrofit of over 3,000 buses with cleaner engines and recently oversaw the launch of the first clean air zone in Bath. We are committed to ensuring that local authorities have access to a wide range of options as they develop plans to address roadside pollution in a way that meets the needs of their communities.

A £2 billion package of funding for active travel, which is the largest amount of funding ever committed to increasing cycling and walking in this country, was announced by the Secretary of State for Transport on 9 May 2020. The first £250 million of the £2 billion was allocated in 2020/21 to “quick wins” including the Active Travel Fund and the Fix your Bike voucher scheme.