Firewood: Regulation

(asked on 7th September 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the (a) powers and (b) funding available to local authorities for regulating domestic wood burning.


Answered by
Trudy Harrison Portrait
Trudy Harrison
This question was answered on 19th September 2023

Our Environmental Improvement Plan and Air Quality Strategy, both published this year, sets out our plan to reduce emissions from domestic combustion and the key role that local authorities play. Through our landmark Environment Act 2021, we have already enabled local authorities to enforce Smoke Control Areas more effectively. We have also introduced legislation to phase out the most polluting fuels, including banning the sale of wet wood in small volumes.

These changes have been matched with new funding to local authorities to enable them to carry out their responsibilities effectively, including a non-competitive grant. We also fund local authorities through the Air Quality Grant, which has provided more than £53 million across over 600 projects since 2010.

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