Air Pollution: Pollution Control

(asked on 14th April 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of (a) whether the consultation period for the revised national air quality strategy meets the criteria set out in the Government's consultation principles, and (b) the adequacy of the ten days allowed for responses to allow stakeholders to fully engage with those proposals; for what reason she has specified this consultation period; and if she will make a statement.


Answered by
Rebecca Pow Portrait
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 24th April 2023

Defra is committed to meeting the statutory deadline of 1st May 2023 to publish our revised Air Quality Strategy. The consultation principles are clear that consultations should last for a proportionate amount of time and are only part of the process. The document is focused on clarifying existing local authority duties rather than adding new ones.

The document also reflects the feedback we have received through regular engagement we have had with local authorities and other bodies throughout the drafting process, in line with the consultation principles. We will be analysing the responses received to the consultation to ensure the Air Quality Strategy is both a useful and functional document for improving the air we breathe.

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