Asked by: Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat - Westmorland and Lonsdale)
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 ensure that farmers are able to (a) access and (b) use capital grants.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have a range of capital grant offers which are readily accessible to our farmers, foresters and land managers to help improve our environment by planting trees and hedges, reducing air pollution and improving water quality. We also offer opportunities for them to invest in the equipment, technology and infrastructure that will help their businesses to prosper, while improving their productivity and enhancing the environment. These grants will continue to be available next year.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 24 May 2023 to Question 185868 on Air Pollution: Schools, whether she has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of the minimum filter class from BS EN 13779.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department’s guidance, ‘Building Bulletin 101: Ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality’, refers to BS EN 13779 (Ventilation for non-residential buildings: performance requirements for ventilation and room-conditioning systems) as additional guidance specifically on filtration, which describes how minimum filtration classes can be applied to schools.
BS EN 13779 is owned by the British Standards Institute and the department has not made any specific tests in relation to this standard.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has taken recent steps with (a) Health Education England and (b) Royal Colleges to provide information to health professionals on treating people who are vulnerable to the health effects of air pollution.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence includes recommendations on advice health professionals can give to people who may be particularly affected by poor outdoor and indoor air quality. The guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng70
Standards for education and training of healthcare professionals are the responsibility of the independent statutory regulatory bodies. The Department engages regularly with health professional bodies, but it would not be appropriate for the Government to intervene in the design of standards of proficiency or the design of curricula. This is to respect the independence and expertise of regulators and universities in designing standards and curricula that ensure public safety.
The Chief Medical Officer’s annual report 2022 focused on air pollution and includes an assessment of the evidence on health risks associated with poor air quality. The report is available at the following link:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/chief-medical-officers-annual-report-2022-air-pollution
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussion she has had with the Office of Environmental Protection on (a) air quality and (b) its health impacts.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department has regular discussions with the Office for Environmental Protection, on a range of issues. We are taking wide-ranging actions on improving air quality as set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 to drive down air pollution and its health impacts.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of domestic wood burning on public health.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Air pollution has been highlighted as the largest environmental risk to public health in the United Kingdom. Burning combustion of wood accounted for 17% of fine particulate matter emissions in 2020.
The UK Health Security Agency has, as part of the Cleaner Air Programme, undertaken a systematic review of the epidemiological studies on the association between outdoor and indoor solid fuel exposure, including biomass and coal and respiratory diseases in children and adults. The evidence suggests that burning solid fuels such as coal and wood indoors could contribute to the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer in adults, but further work is needed to confirm this. There is less evidence for effects in children. Introducing measures to reduce solid fuel burning can improve air quality, leading to some reductions of adverse respiratory effects.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent progress his Department has made on the Air Quality Information System Review.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Air Quality Information System Review is ongoing and recommendations from the steering group will be published in 2024.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 30 November 2021 to Question 81865 on Air Pollution, whether he plans to update the Daily Air Quality Index.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Reviewing the Daily Air Quality Index is one component of the broader Air Quality Information System review scope. We are in the process of awarding a contract to a supplier to complete an evaluation assessing the appropriateness and effectiveness of the index.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of domestic wood burning on the environment.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI) is published annually and contains an assessment of domestic wood burning emissions. The current data was published in February 2023 and shows emissions data for 2021.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 2 November 2022 to Question 63894 on Air Pollution, what progress his Department has made on delivering the Government's commitments made in the Clean Air Strategy 2019.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Delivery of our Clean Air Strategy continues through Defra’s Air Quality and Industrial Emissions Programme and the Environment Improvement Plan Clean Air commitments (published 31 January 2023). Recent achievements include:
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will announce a public consultation on the way in which his Department communicates (a) information and (b) advice on air quality to the public.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is undertaking a comprehensive review of how we communicate air quality information to ensure members of the public, and vulnerable groups in particular, have the information they need to understand their air quality. Recommendations from the steering group established to oversee this work will be published in 2024.