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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of particulate matter pollution; and what account her Department took of such trends when developing its air quality plan.

There has been a long term decrease in the emissions of all air pollutants, including particulate matter (PM). This trend can be seen in our recent statistical release, Emissions of Air Pollutants in the UK 1970 to 2014, published on 17 December 2015. Emissions of PM₁₀ have fallen by 72.6 percent since 1970 and emissions of PM_2.5 have fallen by 76 percent. The UK plan for improving air quality is designed to fulfil our requirements in relation to nitrogen dioxide. Many of the sources of nitrogen oxides are also sources of particulate matter. A number of the solutions identified in the plan to address nitrogen dioxide will also have an impact on emissions of particulate matter and will contribute to this downward trend.