Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the additional powers local authorities may require to meet (1) the net zero target by 2050, and (2) World Health Organisation guidelines on safe levels of air pollution.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Local authorities have a combination of powers in housing, planning, transport, and environmental permitting which allow them to take action to achieve net zero and to improve air quality.
Through the Net Zero Strategy, published on 19 October, the Government set out its commitments to enable local areas to make progress towards net zero. The strategy includes the creation of a new Local Net Zero Forum to improve collaboration net zero policies by convening national and local government senior officials.
The Government is committed to improving air quality, including through reducing a diversity of pollutants that harm both human health and the environment. The Environment Act made improvements on the Local Air Quality Management framework to enable local authorities to take more effective, co-ordinated actions to improve air quality. It will also deliver improvements to public health by ensuring local authorities have more effective powers to tackle emissions from domestic burning.