Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 7 August (HL344), how many staff in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are permitted to undertake diversity-related network time during core working hours; what is the percentage of overall working time they are permitted to spend on such network activity; how many hours are allocated in total; which networks are being funded; and whether they have any plans alter such funding.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The delivery of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Staff Network activity is agreed between networks and departments as the employer. This includes permitted time allocation and any funding arrangements. The majority of staff time spent on diversity staff networks is voluntary and unpaid.
Defra does not afford any protected time to network leads or co-chairs or anyone involved in network activity.
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people they estimate have died from illnesses resulting from poor air quality or air pollution; and whether either (1) a monthly, or (2) a quarterly, breakdown of those figures is available for each such year.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants estimates that the mortality burden of the air pollution mixture (based on both PM2.5 and NO2) in the UK is equivalent to 28,000 to 36,000 deaths per year. Mortality burden is a statistical way of assessing the impact of diseases and pollution. The equivalent figures at a monthly or quarterly period are not available.
Public Health England has, however, estimated the fraction of adult mortality attributable to long-term exposure to particulate air pollution at local authority level in the Public Health Outcomes Framework. This is available to view and search online at: https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/public-health-outcomes-framework.
Asked by: Baroness Altmann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken in response to the recommendations made in the report by the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Environmental Audit, Health and Social Care, and Transport Committees Improving air quality, published on 7 March 2018, to ensure that they align (1) climate change schemes, (2) urban planning, (3) public transport, and (4) fiscal incentives for zero emission vehicles, with air quality goals to prevent their policies from working at cross-purposes.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Government responded in full to the recommendations on 22 May 2018. The Government’s focus in the immediate term is bringing forward compliance with legal limits for NO2 concentrations, and stakeholders from seven departments take part in the governance of the NO2 Plan with a view to ensuring policies are aligned.
The Government published its new Clean Air Strategy on 14 January 2019, setting out a world leading plan to tackle air pollution that is aimed at all sectors of work and society.