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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to protect children from the effect of toxic air on their health.

The pollutants found in air are not themselves toxic but can cause irritation and their effect can have consequences which exacerbate particular conditions. The Government is committed to tackling air pollution, including reducing impacts on vulnerable groups such as children. We have put in place a £3.5billion plan to improve air quality and reduce harmful emissions and on 14 January 2019, we announced our new world leading Clean Air Strategy, which includes new and ambitious goals, legislation, investment and policies which will help us to clean up our air faster and more effectively. The World Health Organisation has praised the strategy as ‘an example for the rest of the world to follow’.