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.
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.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what additional steps her Department is taking to improve air quality in inner-city areas.
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.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what mitigation funding is available to schools wanting to reduce the effect of pollution in the surrounding area.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is taking a strong national leadership role to improve air quality and is providing financial and expert support to local authorities to develop innovative plans to tackle local air pollution.
The Government’s Air Quality Grant Programme provides funding to local authorities for projects in local communities to reduce emissions which may include action targeting schools.
For example, over £3m in Air Quality Grant funding was awarded to local authorities in March 2018 for projects in local communities to tackle air pollution and reduce emissions affecting schools, businesses and residents.
Asked by: Matthew Pennycook (Labour - Greenwich and Woolwich)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether there are specific planning requirements for building (a) schools and (b) hospitals in air pollution hotspots.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
There are strong protections in place to safeguard people from unacceptable risks from air pollution where development is proposed. National planning policy in England is clear that new development should be appropriate for its location, taking account of the effects of pollution on people's health. This applies to schools and hospitals as it does to other uses.
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on improving air quality around schools.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Ministers across Government Departments about air pollution and how to reduce it.
No estimate has been made by the Government. Local authorities are best placed to target action to improve local air quality, and are required to review and assess local air quality and to take action where there are high levels of air pollution. They have discretionary powers to restrict car access to schools and enforce anti-idling laws outside schools. In March this year Public Health England published the report Review of interventions to improve outdoor air quality and public health. This recommended that local authorities, as part of their local Review of interventions to improve outdoor air quality and public health consider a range of interventions to reduce air pollution in the vicinity of schools and reduce children’s exposure accordingly.
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 £60 million in funding since the air quality grant started in 1997, including £3 million in 2018/19.
The following air quality grant award money has been allocated specifically to improve air quality around schools since 2017:
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of schoolchildren exposed to high levels of air pollution in 2019.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Ministers across Government Departments about air pollution and how to reduce it.
No estimate has been made by the Government. Local authorities are best placed to target action to improve local air quality, and are required to review and assess local air quality and to take action where there are high levels of air pollution. They have discretionary powers to restrict car access to schools and enforce anti-idling laws outside schools. In March this year Public Health England published the report Review of interventions to improve outdoor air quality and public health. This recommended that local authorities, as part of their local Review of interventions to improve outdoor air quality and public health consider a range of interventions to reduce air pollution in the vicinity of schools and reduce children’s exposure accordingly.
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 £60 million in funding since the air quality grant started in 1997, including £3 million in 2018/19.
The following air quality grant award money has been allocated specifically to improve air quality around schools since 2017:
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of the air quality grant programme has been allocated to improve air quality around schools since 2017.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Ministers across Government Departments about air pollution and how to reduce it.
No estimate has been made by the Government. Local authorities are best placed to target action to improve local air quality, and are required to review and assess local air quality and to take action where there are high levels of air pollution. They have discretionary powers to restrict car access to schools and enforce anti-idling laws outside schools. In March this year Public Health England published the report Review of interventions to improve outdoor air quality and public health. This recommended that local authorities, as part of their local Review of interventions to improve outdoor air quality and public health consider a range of interventions to reduce air pollution in the vicinity of schools and reduce children’s exposure accordingly.
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 £60 million in funding since the air quality grant started in 1997, including £3 million in 2018/19.
The following air quality grant award money has been allocated specifically to improve air quality around schools since 2017:
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
Asked by: Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of school children exposed to high levels of air pollution in 2019.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Ministers across Government Departments about air pollution and how to reduce it.
No estimate has been made by the Government. Local authorities are best placed to target action to improve local air quality, and are required to review and assess local air quality and to take action where there are high levels of air pollution. They have discretionary powers to restrict car access to schools and enforce anti-idling laws outside schools. In March this year Public Health England published the report Review of interventions to improve outdoor air quality and public health. This recommended that local authorities, as part of their local Review of interventions to improve outdoor air quality and public health consider a range of interventions to reduce air pollution in the vicinity of schools and reduce children’s exposure accordingly.
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 £60 million in funding since the air quality grant started in 1997, including £3 million in 2018/19.
The following air quality grant award money has been allocated specifically to improve air quality around schools since 2017:
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to support eco-friendly solutions to tackle air pollution in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The department has recently published guidance, Building Bulletin 101 (BB101), on achieving good indoor air quality in new and refurbished schools. BB101 promotes best practice in controlling both external and internal pollutants and setting maximum standards for levels of pollutants in classrooms. The published guidance for school design and construction can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-design-and-construction.
Outdoor air quality is the responsibility of local authorities who should prepare air quality action plans to ensure the level of pollutants is reduced. In January 2019, the Government published the Clean Air Strategy setting out plans to deal with all sources of pollution.