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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of increasing the number of (a) Clean Air and (b) Low Emission Zones.

Air pollution poses one of the biggest environmental threats to public health. That is why we are already investing £3.8 billion to clean up our air, including £880 million which is ring fenced to help Local Authorities (LAs) tackle NO₂ exceedances previously identified in the 2017 UK Plan for Tackling Roadside Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂) Concentrations. We are continuing to work closely with these LAs to help develop and implement their local clean air plans which can include charging Clean Air Zones, although other measures that are at least as effective are preferred. We rigorously assess local clean air plans to make sure they will deliver reductions in NO₂ levels in the shortest possible time. However, LAs ultimately make decisions on whether Clean Air Zones are the most suitable measure to introduce in their area.