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
1 result
Clear
3 Recommendation Accepted in Part
Twenty-Second Report - Tackling lo…
Central government has not always got the balance right in how it works in partnership...
Central government has not always got the balance right in how it works in partnership with local government, having been prescriptive in some respects, while seeming to avoid responsibilities that naturally sit at a national level in others. The best … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation. It states that local authorities are responsible for developing Clean Air Plans, with support from a dedicated account manager, and that each local authority has the flexibility to identify measures other than Clean Air Zones. They will write to the Committee by the end of February 2023 with a further update on how it is engaging with local authorities.
HM Treasury
View details
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