Source · National Audit Office

Tackling local breaches of air quality

Published: 17 Jun 2022 Recommendations: 10 Type: Value for Money NAO confirmed: 9 Department: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

This report examines government’s progress in tackling local breaches of NO2 limits and its performance on air quality more broadly.

Dept: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Topics: Energy and environmentLocal governmentLocal services and housingPollution and environmental quality nao.org.uk →

Recommendations

10 items

7 accepted 2 partially accepted 1 rejected 6 implemented 3 in progress

Rec	Recommendation	Addressee	Acceptance	Implementation
1	Defra should: a) ensure that the update to the National Air Pollution Control Programme includes sufficient clarity on how proposed measures will enable the UK to achieve its 2030 targets and the timetable for implementation, given there are now eight years to the deadline, and policies will take time to develop and take effect Ref Page 14, paragraph 26, point a · Implemented Q4 2027-28	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	Accepted	In progress ✓ NAO
10	j) review their approach to public engagement on Clean Air Zones to do more to ensure that there is good understanding across the country of the purpose of these zones, how and why charging regimes differ and to ensure that all road users are aware of how to check whether their vehicle is compliant and make payments if needed. As part of this, JAQU should seek to coordinate with the behaviour change and public engagement team for Net Zero within BEIS, to understand whether public engagement about Clean Air Zones can be amplified alongside wider messaging about Net Zero where there is overlap in the policy options Ref Page 15, paragraph 27, point j · Implemented Q4 2022-23	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	Accepted	Implemented ✓ NAO
2	b) clarify its long-term (2040) ambitions for all major air pollutants, taking account of the plans of international partners, and identify interim (2030) objectives where these do not already exist Ref Page 14, paragraph 26, point b · Implemented Q4 2027-28	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	Partially accepted	In progress ✓ NAO
3	Defra, DfT and JAQU should: f) review and clarify interim milestones for the expected timetable for the remainder of the Programme, re-baselining to account for delays introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic Ref Page 14, paragraph 27, point f · Implemented Q3 2022-23	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Department for Transport	Accepted	Implemented ✓ NAO
4	c) improve the accessibility and usability of air quality information for the public Ref Page 14, paragraph 26, point c · Implemented Q3 2025-26	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	Accepted	Implemented ✓ NAO
5	d) collate information on government?s committed/actual spend on measures it expects to make a substantial contribution to improving air quality, alongside the expected/actual impact these measures are having Ref Page 14, paragraph 26, point d	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	Rejected	—
6	e) together with BEIS, clarify its framework for making decisions about the interdependencies between its work on air quality and Net Zero, and identify clear and specific senior responsibilities for handling the most significant trade-offs and opportunities Ref Page 14, paragraph 26, point e · Implemented Q2 2023-24	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs	Accepted	Implemented ✓ NAO
7	g) collate consistent and complete information on progress against these milestones, including reasons for any further delays and carry out a periodic (at least six monthly) stock-take of progress to consider overall trends and any solutions needed at a national or programme level Ref Page 14, paragraph 27, point g · Implemented Q1 2023-24	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Department for Transport	Accepted	Implemented ✓ NAO
8	h) publish six-monthly updates on the progress of the Programme, including the measures local authorities expect to take, their expected implementation date and expected date of local compliance and consider encouraging local authorities to share an update of their progress publicly Ref Page 14, paragraph 27, point h · Implemented Q4 2025-26	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Department for Transport	Partially accepted	Implemented ✓ NAO
9	i) Defra should set and agree with DfT, JAQU and National Highways the outline criteria for ?non-viable? measures. Defra should then publish these criteria. The Department for Transport, together with National Highways, should report on an annual basis on breaches where it considers there are no viable measures explaining what options were considered. This should cover no viable measures breaches both in local authorities and on the Strategic Road Network Ref Page 15, paragraph 27, point i · Implemented Q1 2026-27	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Department for Transport	Accepted	In progress ✓ NAO