Air Pollution

(asked on 6th September 2021) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the objective set out in the Government's Clean Air Strategy 2019 on ensuring that consumers are armed with reliable information enabling them to make informed choices to protect themselves, what steps his Department plans to take to meet that objective.


Answered by
Rebecca Pow Portrait
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 9th September 2021

The Government is committed to making sure that the best possible advice on pollution is available to the public to enable them to make informed choices to protect their health.

Defra makes air pollution information available through a range of channels, such as the UK-Air website and more recently working with Global Action Plan to deliver the Clean Air Hub.

We also provide information to a network of charities when air pollution levels are forecast to be elevated to ensure information reaches the most vulnerable.

A fundamental component of communicating air quality information is the Daily Air Quality Index (DAQI), which gives advice, based on the level of pollution that is in the forecast and being measured. Defra, Public Health England and DHSC are working with the chairs of the Air Quality Expert Group (AQEG) and the Committee on Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) to establish an expert group update the DAQI and system for providing air quality information in the light of accumulated new evidence and experience.

Defra is also undertaking a fundamental review of the UK-AIR website to improve the functionality and user experience. This project will identify a structure for disseminating information on air quality that reflects the needs and preferences of the key user groups and stakeholders that use the site.

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