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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the conclusions of the HETAS report, A review of the impact of domestic combustion on UK air quality, published in September 2019.

Domestic burning was identified as a major source of particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions in 2018 in the National Statistics on Emissions of air pollutants in the UK. We have taken steps to cut air pollution from this source by introducing legislation which restricts the sale of the most polluting solid fuels, such as wet wood and traditional house coal, and encouraging the use of cleaner fuels in the home.

While we know that it is very difficult to accurately estimate the extent and nature of domestic burning, we are constantly working to improve our data. We published a research report (‘Burning in UK Homes and Gardens’) in December 2020. This involved extensive qualitative and quantitative research to gather further data on people's burning behaviours. A research and measurement study is currently being carried out to improve our emission estimates for domestic combustion.