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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the recently introduced air quality action plans will require local authorities to take into account the latest research showing that air pollution particles can enter the nervous system and the brain.

Air quality has improved significantly in recent decades and we are working at local, national and international levels to continue those improvements. The UK currently meets legal limits for almost all pollutants.

The national air quality plan for NO₂, published in December last year, combines targeted local and national measures, forming part of a wider approach that exploits new and clean technologies, such as electric and ultra-low emission vehicles. As part of the national plan we are requiring five cities to implement Clean Air Zones. The relevant cities are Birmingham, Derby, Leeds, Nottingham and Southampton.

These measures will also reduce particulate matter concentrations.

Alongside national action, local authorities have opportunities to improve air quality for the protection of public health and the environment through their decisions on local land use planning, environmental health, roads, highways and local air quality management. Local authorities are also able to introduce Clean Air Zones voluntarily.

The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution provides independent evidence to Government on the impacts of air pollution on health. It regularly reviews latest research, and Defra reflects its guidance in its policy-making.