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

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are taking steps to provide compulsory air quality monitors outside all schools and children’s playgrounds.

Defra monitors, models and reports air quality at a national level in accordance with the requirements of EU and international legislation. There are 271 monitoring stations in the UK national monitoring network.

Local authorities are responsible for reviewing and assessing local air quality, including decisions on local air quality monitoring. Their local knowledge and interaction with the communities that they serve mean that they know the issues on the ground in detail and the solutions best suited to local circumstances.

Defra provides guidance, including helpdesk advice, to local authorities on the appropriate type of monitoring to install. Where local authorities conduct air quality monitoring, they are expected to site monitors in accordance with local and national priorities, which may include schools and other locations where there is high risk of public exposure.