Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what support he plans to provide to Local Authorities to help maintain the reduced pollution levels recorded during the covid-19 lockdown period.

Councils are crucial in preparing for and mitigating climate change. MHCLG is working across Whitehall to ensure the strategy for net zero recognises the role of towns, communities and regional actors.

As we move towards the renewal phase we have an opportunity to consider where we may make lasting changes, for example to our transport behaviours, in order to capture those environmental benefits we have recently seen in our communities. It is important that we use this opportunity to build back?greener?so our towns and cities are healthier, cleaner and more resilient.???

The new £250 million emergency active travel fund announced on 9 May is designed to help local authorities create an environment that is safe for both walking and cycling in their regions.??The money will help create pop-up bike lanes, wider pavements, safer junctions, and cycle and bus-only corridors. We want to support all communities across England who want to change the way they use their streets and new guidance has already been published to tell councils how they can give more road space to cyclists and pedestrians.

Alongside the funding announcement, the Department for Transport published statutory guidance to local authorities under the Traffic Management Act 2004, providing advice on the changes to road layouts to give more space to cyclists and pedestrians. The guidance is available at:?
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reallocating-road-space-in-response-to-covid-19-statutory-guidance-for-local-authorities??

To encourage drivers to make the switch to electric vehicles as part of a greener future, we also announced an extra £10 million to incentivise local authorities to install up to 7,200 additional on-street electric vehicle?chargepoints, doubling the current funding amount for the second time this year.

It is for authorities to decide what measures are best aligned with local opportunities and needs. These huge levels of investment will help councils protect the environment in ways that could have otherwise taken years to achieve.