Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether details of the Local Air Quality Management framework are publicly available; if so, where; what steps they are taking to ensure that local authorities carry out their duties under this framework; and what steps citizens can take to ensure that local authorities are reviewing air quality.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission have published the guidance document “Meeting the Equality Duty in Policy and Decision-Making” which is available to all public authorities. Their guide provides advice on how to assess the potential impact on people with protected characteristics of a public authority’s functions, including its policies, practices and decisions.

The Local Air Quality Management Framework is set out in Part IV of the Environment Act 1995. It requires local authorities to review and assess air quality within their boundaries, and to produce an annual report detailing any monitoring results and any air pollution issues they have identified. Where an objective for a specific pollutant is exceeded the local authority must declare an Air Quality Management Area and produce an Air Quality Action Plan to address the exceedance.

Annual reports must be made available to the public and will usually be accessible on the local authority’s website. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs provides support for local authorities to carry out their statutory duties under the framework via statutory guidance and a dedicated helpline.

Local traffic authorities have a statutory duty, under the Traffic Management Act 2004, to manage their networks with the aim of ‘securing the expeditious movement of traffic’. They are responsible for using their knowledge of traffic conditions and the road network in their area to decide on appropriate traffic management policies that balance the needs of local residents, emergency services, local businesses, and those who work in and visit the area. The Department has recently published statutory network management duty guidance for local authorities which emphasises the importance of consultation on road closures and other schemes.