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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their strategy to reduce urban air pollution; and whether a programme of tree planting in urban areas forms part of that strategy.

The Government’s plans for tackling air quality are set out in the national air quality plan for nitrogen dioxide, which was published in December 2015 and will be revised by 31 July this year. The Air Quality Expert Group (AQEG) is considering the evidence around the potential of trees to contribute to improvements in air quality to inform our further policy development. The AQEG is an Expert Committee to Defra that provides independent scientific advice on air quality.