Temporary Cycle Lanes in London
Debate between Baroness Vere of Norbiton and Lord Bishop of London(3 years ago)
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Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)
I think I can reassure my noble friend that the meetings are taking place. They take place fortnightly, and they discuss a wide range of issues. It is the case that cycle lanes were put in at the start of the pandemic on a temporary basis—indeed, on a trial basis. The vast majority of those have now become permanent cycle lanes; I think that maybe only about 1 mile of cycle lane has been removed, and that was on Euston Road.
The Lord Bishop of London
The Prime Minister recently announced his desire to invest £1 billion to boost electric car usage. Given the push for cleaner and greener travel, will Her Majesty’s Government first address the number of faulty charging points for electric cars in London and, secondly, promote co-operation among suppliers, so that potential users are not dissuaded by the current requirement to download multiple apps from multiple companies?
Air Pollution
Debate between Baroness Vere of Norbiton and Lord Bishop of London
Baroness Vere of Norbiton
The noble Earl is quite right to mention children. Many vulnerable people are also significantly impacted by poor air quality. The Government are developing personal air quality messaging systems for them so that, when air quality is poor, they know that they need to take action. The Government are also providing funding to local councils to trial low-cost sensors, which can be placed around schools, so that they can monitor the air quality around schools much more effectively.
The Lord Bishop of London
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for her answers so far. Can I pick up the issue of children? As the Bishop of London, I am very grateful for the ultra-low emission zone being implemented today. Can the Minister reassure us that money is going to be put into research to ensure that we know the long-term effects on the health of those children who have already incurred high emissions?
Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Certainly we need to understand the impact on children’s health. The London Mayor has also committed to look at the air pollution around 50 primary schools in London. The more we can do to reduce fine particulate matter, which is a relatively new measure which has come to our attention, the better for everyone’s health.