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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which local authorities have been sent letters indicating that they may have to pay part or all of the fines arising from infraction proceedings following the European Court of Justice's finding against the UK for breach of nitrogen dioxide limit values under the EU Air Quality Directive.

In March this year, Defra sent letters to all local authorities in England to inform them of the Commission's decision to commence infraction procedures against the UK for non-compliance with NO₂ limit values, what it means and the next steps that should be taken by the Government in response. As part of this, local authorities were reminded of the discretionary power in Part 2 of the Localism Act under which the Government could require responsible authorities to pay all or part of an infraction fine.