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Written Question
Air Pollution: Greater London
Thursday 22nd October 2020

Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow 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 levels of air pollution in areas surrounding schools in (a) Harrow West and (b) London; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Mayor of London is responsible for air quality in the capital and has reserve powers under the 1995 Environment Act to enable this.

Local authorities are required to review and assess local air quality and to take action where there are high levels of air pollution. Local authorities have discretionary powers to restrict car access to schools and enforce anti-idling laws outside schools.

The Government’s Air Quality Grant Programme provides funding to local authorities for projects in local communities to tackle air pollution and reduce emissions which may include action targeting schools. The Government has awarded over £64 million in funding since the air quality grant started in 1997.

The Government has put in place a £3.8 billion plan to improve air quality and reduce harmful nitrogen dioxide emissions. Our Clean Air Strategy sets out measures we are taking to improve air quality and reduce emissions of pollution, improving public health.


Written Question
Schools: Air Pollution
Tuesday 20th October 2020

Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to incentivise schools to install air quality monitors.

Answered by Nick Gibb

Local authorities are responsible for air quality in their area and must ensure that it meets the standards set in local air quality action plans. If there was concern about the air quality in a school building, it would fall to the body responsible for the school to check that and establish what measures needed to be taken to improve air quality.

In 2018, the Department for Education published Building Bulletin 101 (BB101), which is guidance for school design on ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality. This guidance sets out the World Health Organisation’s air quality guidelines and Air Quality Standards Regulation 2010 for indoor air quality. BB101 requires the indoor environment of new or refurbished school buildings to be monitored by recording temperature and levels of carbon dioxide.

The Department is collaborating with other government departments and a number of academic institutions on air quality projects. The findings from these projects will, in due course, inform our guidance and standards for school buildings.

The Department does not hold data on the proportion of primary or secondary schools with air quality monitors installed.

We will be considering with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether and how schools might be encouraged to take part in Clean Air Day in future years.


Written Question
Schools: Air Pollution
Tuesday 20th October 2020

Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of (a) primary and (b) secondary schools that have air quality monitors installed.

Answered by Nick Gibb

Local authorities are responsible for air quality in their area and must ensure that it meets the standards set in local air quality action plans. If there was concern about the air quality in a school building, it would fall to the body responsible for the school to check that and establish what measures needed to be taken to improve air quality.

In 2018, the Department for Education published Building Bulletin 101 (BB101), which is guidance for school design on ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality. This guidance sets out the World Health Organisation’s air quality guidelines and Air Quality Standards Regulation 2010 for indoor air quality. BB101 requires the indoor environment of new or refurbished school buildings to be monitored by recording temperature and levels of carbon dioxide.

The Department is collaborating with other government departments and a number of academic institutions on air quality projects. The findings from these projects will, in due course, inform our guidance and standards for school buildings.

The Department does not hold data on the proportion of primary or secondary schools with air quality monitors installed.

We will be considering with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether and how schools might be encouraged to take part in Clean Air Day in future years.


Written Question
Schools: Air Pollution
Tuesday 20th October 2020

Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to encourage (a) primary and (b) secondary schools to take part in Clean Air Day in future years.

Answered by Nick Gibb

Local authorities are responsible for air quality in their area and must ensure that it meets the standards set in local air quality action plans. If there was concern about the air quality in a school building, it would fall to the body responsible for the school to check that and establish what measures needed to be taken to improve air quality.

In 2018, the Department for Education published Building Bulletin 101 (BB101), which is guidance for school design on ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality. This guidance sets out the World Health Organisation’s air quality guidelines and Air Quality Standards Regulation 2010 for indoor air quality. BB101 requires the indoor environment of new or refurbished school buildings to be monitored by recording temperature and levels of carbon dioxide.

The Department is collaborating with other government departments and a number of academic institutions on air quality projects. The findings from these projects will, in due course, inform our guidance and standards for school buildings.

The Department does not hold data on the proportion of primary or secondary schools with air quality monitors installed.

We will be considering with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether and how schools might be encouraged to take part in Clean Air Day in future years.


Written Question
Schools: Air Pollution
Wednesday 22nd July 2020

Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to issue an update of the Building Bulletin 101:'Guidelines on ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality in schools for (a) BS EN ISO 16890:2016, (b) BS EN ISO 10121-2:2013 and (c) BS EN 16798-3:2017.

Answered by Nick Gibb

The design and construction standards for new school buildings are under regular review to reflect any changes in regulations or best practice nationally. There are no plans at present to update Building Bulletin 101 'Guidelines on ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality in schools' which was published in 2019.

We published guidance on 3 June on the reopening of buildings and campuses to help providers make informed decisions about their provision in ways that protect the health and well-being of both staff and students. Our guidance contains links to other sources of relevant advice, including on safer workplaces: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19, which includes references to the importance of ventilation, particularly in advance of reopening buildings.


Written Question
Air Pollution: Schools
Monday 20th July 2020

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 plans he has to plant protective hedges around schools to reduce air pollution in schools.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

To support local authorities in their work to tackle air pollution hotspots, this Government has given a great deal of thought to the role that vegetation might play in improving air quality. The Air Quality Expert Group published a report named Impacts of Vegetation on Urban Air Pollution which is available to read here:

https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/assets/documents/reports/cat09/1807251306_180509_Effects_of_vegetation_on_urban_air_pollution_v12_final.pdf

The key conclusion is that while vegetation might bring some highly localised benefits to air quality, it will not be a solution at a city scale. In the context of a school perimeter, there is little evidence to support vegetation reducing nitrogen oxides from exhausts and while significant amounts of foliage might provide a localised barrier effect to reduce particulate levels from the roadside, the effectiveness of these measures is unclear.

This is why the emphasis of our Clean Air Strategy is to tackle the sources of pollution levels as the most effective way to improve air quality for all.


Written Question
Schools: Coronavirus
Tuesday 7th July 2020

Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on reducing air pollution around schools, to help protect (a) teaching staff and (b) children attending schools during the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Nick Gibb

Local authorities are responsible for the mitigation of air pollution hot spots in areas where people may be exposed, including schools. They have discretionary powers to take action to improve local air quality. For example, they can issue fixed penalty notices to drivers leaving engines running unnecessarily after being asked to turn them off. In areas with poor air quality, local authorities have a statutory duty to publish air quality plans for reducing air pollution.

Local authorities also have a statutory duty to promote sustainable school travel. The department’s guidance sets out that this duty should have a broad impact, including improvements in air quality to which children are particularly vulnerable.

Government advice, particularly during the COVID-19 outbreak, is to walk or cycle to school where possible. The Department for Transport’s cycling and walking investment strategy sets out the government’s ambition to make cycling and walking the natural choice for shorter journeys, or as part of a longer journey. Details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cycling-and-walking-investment-strategy.

On 9 May the Department for Transport announced a £2 billion package to promote cycling and walking:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/2-billion-package-to-create-new-era-for-cycling-and-walking.


Written Question
Department for Education: Coronavirus
Friday 3rd July 2020

Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report of the all-party group on air pollution entitled, Air Quality Strategy to Reduce Coronavirus Infection, published on 29 May 2020.

Answered by Nick Gibb

Outdoor air quality and road traffic restrictions are the responsibility of local authorities. Where there are concerns about air quality the local authority must prepare an air quality action plan.

We are not aware of any recommendations to the Department on the impact of the School Streets Initiative on healthier educational environments. The Department published guidance (Building Bulletin 101) on achieving good indoor air quality in new and refurbished schools in 2019.

As my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, made clear when he spoke at the daily press briefing on 19 June, the Department is working towards bringing all children and young people back to school in September. We have published further information and guidance to help schools prepare for September. The guidance is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.


Written Question
Air Pollution
Thursday 23rd January 2020

Asked by: Neil Coyle (Labour - Bermondsey and Old Southwark)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to reduce air pollution levels (a) throughout the UK, (b) in inner city communities and (c) in the London Borough of Southwark.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Air quality is a key policy area for this Government and a great deal of work is being done to tackle air pollution. Implementing the commitments set out in the Clean Air Strategy (CAS), which was published last year, will help to clean up our air faster and more effectively in towns and cities.

The upcoming Environment Bill, which will shortly be reintroduced to Parliament, will deliver some key commitments in the CAS. This includes introducing a duty to set a legally binding target for fine particulate matter concentrations, the pollutant of most harm to health. The Bill will also ensure that local authorities have a clear framework for tackling air pollution, and are better able to tackle a key source of fine particulate matter emissions – domestic solid fuel burning. It will also provide the Government with new powers to enforce environmental standards for vehicles and machinery.

The Government’s Joint Air Quality Unit (JAQU) is also working with a number of local authorities to deliver compliance with legal limits for nitrogen dioxide in the shortest possible time. JAQU provides these local authorities with guidance and support to develop local plans to identify and implement suitable measures to achieve this objective, supported by £572 million dedicated funding. In some instances local authorities will be implementing charging clean air zones to deliver these reductions, and the Government is working closely with these authorities to ensure the necessary IT systems are in place and ready to use.

Further, Defra’s Air Quality Grant Programme provides funding to local authorities, funding projects in local communities to tackle air pollution and reduce emissions affecting schools, businesses and residents. Defra has awarded over £60 million in funding to local authorities since the grant started in 1997.

These measures will improve air quality across the country, including in inner-city areas. For London, air quality is the responsibility of the Mayor of London.


Written Question
Air Pollution
Monday 13th January 2020

Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support improvements to air quality in the parts of the country with the worst levels of air pollution.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Air quality is a key policy area for this Government and a great deal of work is being done to tackle air pollution. Implementing the commitments set out in the Clean Air Strategy, which was published last year, will help to clean up our air faster and more effectively in towns and cities.

The upcoming Environment Bill, which will shortly be reintroduced to Parliament, will deliver some key commitments in the Strategy. This includes introducing a duty to set a legally binding target for fine particulate matter concentrations, the pollutant of most harm to health. The Bill will also ensure that local authorities have a clear framework for tackling air pollution, and are better able to tackle a key source of fine particulate matter emissions – domestic solid fuel burning. It will also provide the Government with new powers to enforce environmental standards for vehicles and machinery.

The Government’s Joint Air Quality Unit is also working with a number of local authorities to deliver compliance with legal limits for nitrogen dioxide in the shortest possible time. The unit provides these local authorities with guidance and support to develop local plans to identify and implement suitable measures to achieve this objective, supported by £572 million dedicated funding. In some instances local authorities will be implementing charging clean air zones to deliver these reductions, and the Government is working closely with these authorities to ensure the necessary IT systems are in place and ready to use.

Further, Defra’s Air Quality Grant Programme provides funding to local authorities, funding projects in local communities to tackle air pollution and reduce emissions affecting schools, businesses and residents. Defra has awarded over £60 million in funding to local authorities since the grant started in 1997.

These measures will improve air quality across the country, including in inner-city areas.