Tackling local air quality breaches

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 6 Jun 2022 Closed: 14 Dec 2022 Parliament page
The UK has air quality targets which specify legal limits of major pollutants at a local and a national level. While emissions of most air pollutants have been falling in recent decades, air quality continues to cause significant health, economic and environmental risks, and the UK is not currently meeting … Read more
6 Recommendations
27 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
2 Letters
1 Event
Activity timeline 6 events
14 Dec
2022
Report published
26 Oct
2022
Report published
20 Oct
2022
Correspondence
17 Oct
2022
Correspondence
27 Jun
2022
Oral evidence
27 Jun
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
27 Jun 2022
View on parliament.uk
Tackling local air quality breaches
David Hill · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Gareth Davies CB · Department for Business and Trade Nick Harris · National Highways
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Twenty-Second Report - Tackling local air quality breaches HC 37 26 Oct 2022 33 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
7 results
Clear
2 Recommendation Accepted
Twenty-Second Report - Tackling lo…
There is a high level of uncertainty in government’s model for assessing pollution levels, which...
There is a high level of uncertainty in government’s model for assessing pollution levels, which may mean that further areas of poor air quality might be missed by the programme. Government uses a national model to identify areas that are … Read more
Government Response
The government states that the best available evidence has been used to identify areas exceeding pollution limits and that the national model meets uncertainty requirements. They will continue to improve the model and have increased the number of monitoring locations. They will consider local authority monitoring data if it meets AQSR requirements.
HM Treasury
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5 Recommendation Accepted
Twenty-Second Report - Tackling lo…
Government is not yet taking a sufficiently integrated approach to tackling the problem of poor...
Government is not yet taking a sufficiently integrated approach to tackling the problem of poor air quality. Measures to tackle air pollution on the strategic road network risk displacing heavy vehicle traffic onto local roads. Although government is aware of … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation and states they have consulted on a revised National Air Pollution Control Programme (NAPCP) which includes robust actionable measures for further consideration to deliver compliance with the 2030 targets for all air pollutants.
HM Treasury
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6 Recommendation Accepted
Twenty-Second Report - Tackling lo…
There is a lot resting on the updated plan that government expects to publish if...
There is a lot resting on the updated plan that government expects to publish if 2030 air quality targets are to be met. The UK may have missed its target for national ammonia emissions in 2020, and existing policy measures … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation and states they have consulted on a revised National Air Pollution Control Programme (NAPCP) that includes robust actionable measures to deliver compliance with the 2030 targets for all air pollutants.
HM Treasury
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14 Recommendation Accepted
Twenty-Second Report - Tackling lo…
The UK Air website is government’s main source of communication on air quality, but it...
The UK Air website is government’s main source of communication on air quality, but it is fairly impenetrable to the general public.11 While the website provides a high- level air pollution forecast, and allows users to download air quality datasets, … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees to improve communication of air quality information to the public through a comprehensive Air Quality Information System (AQIS) Review, with outcomes published on UK-AIR and a final report in early 2024, and a major overhaul of the UK-Air website by March 2025.
HM Treasury
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16 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Second Report - Tackling lo…
National Highways acknowledge that the accessibility of the government’s data on air quality is an...
National Highways acknowledge that the accessibility of the government’s data on air quality is an issue, and Defra told us that it is reviewing its social media and online offering over the next 18 months. It particularly highlighted the need … Read more
Government Response
The government recognizes the need to effectively communicate air quality information to the public and launched a comprehensive Air Quality Information System (AQIS) Review to ensure members of the public have what they need; outcomes will be published on UK-AIR with a final report in early 2024, and the government aims to complete the web system review by March 2025.
HM Treasury
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22 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Second Report - Tackling lo…
We asked if departments had considered revisiting the assumption of a clean air zone as...
We asked if departments had considered revisiting the assumption of a clean air zone as the baseline for judging local authority plans, given that there have been delays to implementation. DfT told us that the evidence from the latest annual … Read more
Government Response
Local authorities are responsible for developing their own Clean Air Plans, with government support; they can use measures other than Clean Air Zones if compliance can be achieved as quickly.
HM Treasury
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30 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Second Report - Tackling lo…
In addition to working with local authorities, the Department for Transport and the Department for...
In addition to working with local authorities, the Department for Transport and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs needs to ensure it is working with other sectors with either an interest in, or an influence on, air quality, … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and has consulted on a revised National Air Pollution Control Programme (NAPCP) with actionable measures to deliver compliance with the 2030 targets and ensure full integration between different areas of responsibility.
HM Treasury
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Government Response AI assessment · 22 of 6 classified
Accepted 7
Accepted in Part 1
Acknowledged 9
Rejected 5
Total 6 recs + 27 conclusions
Correspondence 2 letters
20 Oct 2022 Joint correspondence from David Hill, Director General for Environment, Rural and Marine and Gareth Davies, Second Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport to Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Deputy Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts, re Air Quality PAC: Follow-Up Response, dated 11 July 2022
Parliament page
17 Oct 2022 Joint correspondence from Gareth Davies Second, Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport and David Hill Director General for Environment, Rural and Marine to Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Deputy Chair, Committee of Public Accounts, re Air Quality PAC: Follow-up response regarding the publication of the 2021 Air Quality Annual Compliance Assessment, dated 29 September 2022
Parliament page