Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Rory Stewart and Naz Shah

Thursday 17th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Naz Shah (Bradford West) (Lab)]

11. What steps she is taking to improve monitoring of levels of air pollution.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Rory Stewart)]

The Department continues to improve its monitoring of levels of air pollution in line with the EU ambient air quality directive, and the computer programme to calculate emissions from road transport, or Copert. We have increased the number of nitrogen dioxide monitoring stations by more than 30% over the past three years.

[Rory Stewart]

The current objective is to focus on nitrogen dioxide thresholds and ensure that we reduce ambient air quality rates below 40 micrograms per cubic metre. Heathrow is a totally separate question that must be assessed independently by the Environment Agency and our air quality monitors, to see whether ambient air quality targets are met.

[Naz Shah]

Air pollution kills 50,000 people a year, yet the Government are concerned with only five cities. Will the Minister explain why?

[Rory Stewart]

That is a very good question. In those five cities, the ambient air quality level of 40 micrograms per cubic metre is due to be exceeded. Therefore, our objective is to ensure that by 2020, in Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham, Derby and Southampton, we drop that level below 40 micrograms per cubic metre.