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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to integrate the World Health Organisation's guidelines on air quality into his policy.

We are taking an evidence-led approach to set targets which are stretching, achievable and appropriate for our national circumstances. Our evidence indicates that a level of 5 μgm^-3 would be impossible to achieve in many locations due to the level of natural PM2.5 and pollution blown in from outside the country. Even in the absence of all man-made emissions of PM2.5 from within the UK, modelling indicates that concentrations of PM2.5 would still likely exceed 5 μgm^-3. The cost-benefit-analysis, which assesses the merits of setting a more ambitious target, has been published within the evidence pack.

In setting our targets, we are also taking into account the more than 180,000 responses received to the environmental targets consultation from a range of individuals and organisations.