Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to monitor the compliance of local authorities establishing clean air zones with the policy paper entitled Clean air zone framework, updated on 6 October 2022.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Joint Air Quality Unit’s evaluation programme aims to ensure that the nitrogen dioxide (NO2) programme is delivering its stated aims.
There are two main strands to the evaluation programme:
Local monitoring: all local authorities are required to monitor changes to air quality and traffic (traffic count and Automatic Number Plate Recognition fleet data) in the relevant areas and report this data to the Joint Air Quality Unit quarterly. Local authorities may choose to conduct further monitoring activity or evaluate the wider impacts of their air quality improvement measures in more detail.
Central evaluation: this aggregates data from across the different local authorities implementing air quality improvement measures. Where possible, this is used to inform the development and delivery of air quality improvement measures as well as providing a stronger evidence base for air quality policy making. Traffic data will be analysed to provide percentage compliance rates of each vehicle class in regards to the Clean Air Zone emissions standards i.e. percentage of Euro 6 vehicles.
The second annual report for the evaluation was published on 12 May 2022 and covers the evaluation findings from 2021, including early analysis following the launch of the Bath Clean Air Zone.
In addition, the UK’s Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010 require the UK to undertake air quality assessment to assess legal compliance against air pollutant concentration limit and target values and report the findings and associated data on an annual basis. This assessment is done for all local authorities not just those establishing Clean Air Zones.
Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many vehicles were charged for using clean air zones that are serviced by Clean Air Zone Central Services by age of vehicle in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Currently there are four live Clean Air Zones, all using the Clean Air Zone Central Services. These are:
The number of vehicles classified by the Clean Air Zone Central Services as subject to a charge across all live Clean Air Zones is shown in the table below. The Government does not hold data split by the age of the vehicle.
Local authorities are responsible for the enforcement of charging as well as the administration of local exemptions.
Period | Total Non-Compliant Entrants |
14 March 2021 to 31 March 2022 | 3,603,101 |
1 April 2022 to 31 October 2022 | 2,010,081 |
Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many vehicles were charged a fee for entering a clean air zone by age of vehicle in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Currently there are four live Clean Air Zones, all using the Clean Air Zone Central Services. These are:
The number of vehicles classified by the Clean Air Zone Central Services as subject to a charge across all live Clean Air Zones is shown in the table below. The Government does not hold data split by the age of the vehicle.
Local authorities are responsible for the enforcement of charging as well as the administration of local exemptions.
Period | Total Non-Compliant Entrants |
14 March 2021 to 31 March 2022 | 3,603,101 |
1 April 2022 to 31 October 2022 | 2,010,081 |
Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of clean air zones were implemented using the Clean Air Zone Central Services in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Currently there are four live Clean Air Zones, all using the Clean Air Zone Central Services. These are:
The number of vehicles classified by the Clean Air Zone Central Services as subject to a charge across all live Clean Air Zones is shown in the table below. The Government does not hold data split by the age of the vehicle.
Local authorities are responsible for the enforcement of charging as well as the administration of local exemptions.
Period | Total Non-Compliant Entrants |
14 March 2021 to 31 March 2022 | 3,603,101 |
1 April 2022 to 31 October 2022 | 2,010,081 |
Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of use of the Smiths Detection System at Heathrow Airport Terminal 2 on (a) safety at airports and (b) national security.
Answered by Robert Courts
The Department for Transport is in regular contact with all security regulated airports about upgrading their security checkpoints over the next few years. This includes Heathrow Airport. Decisions on the type of equipment that airports want to use at security checkpoints is between the airport and manufacturers.
Any equipment in use must meet the security standards set by the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) and be approved for use by the Department for Transport. Approved equipment can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/aviation-security-screening-approved-equipment-list. We do not provide specific details of the security equipment in use.
Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had discussions with representatives of Heathrow Airport on its use of the Smiths Detection system at Terminal 2; and if his Department will make an comparative estimate of costs of (a) Smiths Detection system and (b) other standard security screening systems.
Answered by Robert Courts
The Department for Transport is in regular contact with all security regulated airports about upgrading their security checkpoints over the next few years. This includes Heathrow Airport. Decisions on the type of equipment that airports want to use at security checkpoints is between the airport and manufacturers.
Any equipment in use must meet the security standards set by the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) and be approved for use by the Department for Transport. Approved equipment can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/aviation-security-screening-approved-equipment-list. We do not provide specific details of the security equipment in use.
Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on Heathrow Airport's plans to extend use of the Smiths Detection Systems for airport security after the assessment period.
Answered by Robert Courts
The Department for Transport is in regular contact with all security regulated airports about upgrading their security checkpoints over the next few years. This includes Heathrow Airport. Decisions on the type of equipment that airports want to use at security checkpoints is between the airport and manufacturers.
Any equipment in use must meet the security standards set by the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) and be approved for use by the Department for Transport. Approved equipment can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/aviation-security-screening-approved-equipment-list. We do not provide specific details of the security equipment in use.
Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) projected and (b) actual efficiency is of the Smiths Detection security screening system in Heathrow Terminal 2.
Answered by Robert Courts
Any equipment in use must meet the security standards set by the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) and be approved for use by the Department for Transport. Approved equipment can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/aviation-security-screening-approved-equipment-list. We do not provide specific details of the security equipment in use for security reasons.
Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what training staff at Heathrow Terminal 2 have to work on the Smith detection security screening system.
Answered by Robert Courts
The responsibility for ensuring that personnel are trained to operate any security equipment to a standard sufficient to ensure that no prohibited articles are taken beyond the search point falls to the airport.
Staff must have received appropriate training in the use of equipment before they can operate in a live environment. Staff will have to complete relevant training as outlined in the training syllabi that can be found on the CAA website at https://www.caa.co.uk/Commercial-industry/Security/Training/Syllabuses/. We do not provide details of the specific training for security reasons.
Asked by: Ian Liddell-Grainger (Conservative - Bridgwater and West Somerset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the efficiency is of the Smiths Detection security screening system at Heathrow Terminal 2; and what proportion of bags are rejected by that system.
Answered by Robert Courts
For national and aviation security reasons we do not comment on the detail of specific security arrangements, or on the details of the equipment in use.