Source · Select Committees · Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Recommendation 6
6
Not Addressed
Paragraph: 56
The Clean Air Strategy is a step in the right direction but relies too much...
Recommendation
The Clean Air Strategy is a step in the right direction but relies too much on local authorities, delegating most responsibility for delivering air quality improvements to them without providing sufficient competencies and resources to deliver. It also lacks the ambition to fully address the challenges posed by England’s air pollution problems, relying on existing strategies that are making limited progress. Although we welcome the Government’s commitment to setting an air quality target to reduce the level of PM2.5 there is also a need to address the other key air pollutants - of NO2, PM10, SO2, NMVOCs and ammonia - which are also having a detrimental effect on people’s health. We note the Minister’s reference to the targets in retained EU law, but these are easily amended and sit outside of the new structure environmental governance the Government is seeking to create. Overall, therefore, the Bill’s current provisions do not provide the robust legal framework required given the scale and urgency of the challenge. We therefore recommend that the Government makes the following amendments to the Environment Bill: a) That clause 2 is amended to provide for a specific target to reduce the annual mean concentration of PM2.5 to under 10μg/m3 by 1 January 2030, in line with WHO- guidelines, and also include an interim target for 2025; and b) The duties related to “air quality partners” should apply to all levels of government and public bodies, and the power to request contributions to city wide action plans should be extended to regional and city Mayors and combined authorities.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government outlines existing legally binding emission reduction targets and the process of revising the National Air Pollution Control Programme, but does not address the specific requested amendments to the Environment Bill regarding PM2.5 concentration targets or duties for air quality partners.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
56
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government · verbatim extract
Not Addressed
Air quality has improved significantly since 2010 and continuing this trajectory of improvement is a top priority for the Government. We are taking urgent action through our ambitious Clean Air Strategy, our landmark Environment Bill and the delivery of our £3.8 billion plan to clean up transport and tackle roadside NO2 pollution. The Clean Air Strategy outlines a comprehensive programme of action across all parts of government and, in leading this work, Defra works in close collaboration with a range of key government departments, including the Department for Transport, the Department for Health and Social Care, and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. This collaborative programme is enabling us to tackle a range of cross-cutting issues such as health inequalities and fuel poverty and as well as aligning our action on air quality with other environmental goals such as Net Zero. We are also committed to taking an evidence-based approach to our policy development. During the pandemic, we have been proactive in working closely with our expert groups to closely monitor the emerging evidence and ensure that we can understand how the changes in people’s daily lives are influencing air pollution and our exposure to it. This work will help us to continue to develop our world class evidence base and will inform our development of policy. At the local level, we have committed in the Environment Bill to review the Local Air Quality Management Framework as part of the national strategy review. A key aim of this will be to better align national and local policies actions to deliver air quality improvements. This will include: • A review of local level objectives to drive more targeted and effective action in line with our new national commitments. • The development of a stronger support and capability-building framework to ensure local authorities and their partners have the necessary tools to take the action needed reduce people’s exposure to air pollutants. • Further clarification of the powers and levers that are available to local authorities and the role of newly identified air quality partners in driving this action. • A stronger focus on reducing the impacts of air pollution on vulnerable groups, communities and places that are disproportionately impacted, e.g. schools, care homes and deprived neighbourhoods. • Further action to improve public understanding of the impacts of air pollution and the practical steps that can be taken to both reduce harmful exposure and individual contributions to pollution
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