Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2026 to Question 35228, what changes to the Met Office’s remit, commissioning and funding would be necessary for it to issue air-pollution warnings based on expected health impacts, separately from forecasts and threshold alerts, and proactively distribute those warnings in press releases to news media.

The Met Office is commissioned by Defra to provide air-quality forecasts.

Introducing a separate air-pollution warning service based on expected health impacts, with warnings proactively distributed to news media through press releases, would require agreement between relevant government departments on responsibilities, commissioning and funding. As the department responsible for air-quality policy in England, Defra would need to lead consideration of such a service, working with the Met Office, the independent Public Weather Service Customer Group and relevant public-health bodies. Any changes to the Met Office’s remit, commissioning or funding would depend on the agreed scope and delivery arrangements.