Appendix—Government response
Summary
1. The Government welcomes this further report
on air quality from the Environmental Audit Committee and is pleased
to respond to the Committee's recommendations.
2. The Government fully acknowledges the significant
health and environmental benefits from reducing air pollution,
which have been translated into substantial quantified economic
benefits. Given these, it agrees with the Committee about the
importance of securing further improvements. However the Government
does not accept the Committee's view that it has failed to get
to grips with the issue of air pollution. he Government has made
a commitment to work towards full compliance with EU air quality
standards and these, together with the significant public health
and environmental benefits, are the central drivers for policy
in this area.
3. The Government published its response to the
EAC's March 2010 report on air quality in November 2010. Since
then there have been significant developments in air quality policy
both in terms of our understanding of the health impacts and in
our understanding of the scale of challenge in achieving further
improvements, especially in the short term.
4. Significant reductions have been achieved in
emissions of lead, sulphur dioxide, particulate matter and oxides
of nitrogen over many years. As a result, the UK now meets EU
limit values for nearly all pollutants. The European Commission
granted the UK additional time to meet the PM10
limit value in London until June 2011, and we will report on 2011
compliance for this pollutant in September 2012. The London Mayor's
air quality strategy sets out a range of measures to reduce pollution
in this area. or NO2 the position is much more challenging
and accelerating expected reductions especially in transport emissions
is proving to be very difficult. This is not just the case for
the UK—most Member States in the European Union reported
some level of non-compliance in 2010.
5. The UK published in September 2011 air quality
plans for achieving NO2 limit values. These identified
the most significant contributor to the current scale of exceedences
of the limit values as being the failure of EU vehicle emission
standards for oxides of nitrogen (NOX) to achieve the
reductions intended for this pollutant. At the same time there
had been increased dieselisation of the vehicle fleet and increased
van and bus activity in urban areas. The combined effect of these
factors has, meant that roadside levels of NO2 had
not decreased as expected and, in places, had increased leading
to more NO2 exceedences and declarations of air quality
management areas at local level. Moreover, as has been acknowledged
by the EAC, the underperformance of these technologies means that
measures to accelerate the uptake of newer emission standards
through low emission zones or in other ways must be scrutinised
carefully to ensure money is targeted in a way that can be relied
upon to deliver intended outcomes.
6. Securing further improvements in air quality
cannot be considered in isolation from the precise policy measures
available. Because of the significance of transport emission sources
to air pollution, the choice of transport policy measures is especially
important. The Committee did not in its report recommend any specific
policy measures other than that the Government should establish
a national framework for low emission zones, which we are already
investigating (see below our response to recommendation 10). There
are, however, difficult choices to be made for both national and
local government in the selection of policy measures and a number
of factors that need to be considered by local government in relation
to implementing low emission zones. his is because low emission
zones affect transport choices and priorities, as well as having
implications for economic growth including at the local level.
The pace at which we can achieve further reductions in NO2
must be realistic and sustainable, and be balanced against the
pace of economic growth and resources available.
7. Local action is important in improving air
quality in local 'hotspots' and working with local industry and
other authorities to manage air quality. The Localism Act (given
Royal Assent in November 2011) puts greater power in the hands
of local government and local communities to influence decisions
in their area and to support sustainable growth and development.
These decisions can significantly affect local air quality; and
local authorities have continuing responsibilities to assess and
improve air quality where national objectives or limit values
are at risk. The powers in Part 2 of the Localism Act to pass
on infraction fines are intended to encourage local authorities
to meet their European obligations and act responsibly. Part 2
of the Act will only be used in exceptional circumstances, after
all the UK has never been fined for an infraction.
8. The Government is supporting action by local
authorities to investigate measures to improve local air quality,
and in 2011 allocated £3m towards local action. More widely,
hundreds of millions of pounds have been allocated towards measures
to support local sustainable transport, carbon reduction and economic
growth; and many of these projects have potential to improve air
quality in addition to meeting their primary objectives. The Government
will continue to work with local authorities to deliver improvements
and to encourage local authority decision makers to consider and,
where practicable, to take measures within their powers to improve
air quality.
9. The Government sees public awareness as central
to achieving its goals on improving air quality; and a top priority
is ensuring businesses and the public understand both the health
impacts, and the actions that can be effective in reducing those
health impacts. Since the Government's response to the Committee's
first inquiry, substantial progress has been made regarding our
understanding of the health impacts of air pollution and how this
can be used in public communication.
10. The Government is proposing a new emphasis
on air pollution in public health policy through the recently
published Public Health Outcomes Framework. (see response to Recommendation
9 below). In preparation for this, it consulted widely on proposals
for a new strategic outcomes framework for public health outcome
indicators. Based on the significant public health impact of particulate
air pollution, we have included an air pollution indicator in
the published framework. This indicator is based on the mortality
effect of man-made particulate air pollution, measured as fine
particulate matter, PM2.5. This is intended to raise
awareness of air quality as a public health issue with local authorities,
in their capacity of having oversight for public health in their
areas, as well as with GPs and Directors of Public Health at the
local level.
11. We strongly welcome the engagement of the
public and public campaigns in air quality especially the Healthy
Air Campaign initiated by Environmental Protection UK and now
supported by other sponsors. Only through better understanding
can we hope to have a measured debate about air quality and the
available measures to improve air quality and public health. Defra
supports local action to raise public awareness on air quality,
and is in discussion with the Healthy Air Campaign on opportunities
for joint working. We would like to see a wider range of bodies
supporting this and other campaigns.
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