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

To ask Her Majesty's Government why the national monitor for air pollution in the Brighton and Hove area is placed in Preston Park, rather than near the more polluting city centre roads; and whether they will consider using the data collected by Brighton and Hove City Council when assessing pollution levels in the area in future.

The Preston Park monitoring site was chosen to measure background pollution concentrations within reporting zone 10 (Brighton, Worthing and Littlehampton) and is sited in accordance with EU requirements for compliance purposes.

Defra uses pollution data from this monitoring site to report compliance to the EU against the air quality limit values. Monitoring data is supplemented by national modelling which ‘fills the gaps’ between monitoring stations.

Data collected by Brighton and Hove Council will not be used for compliance purposes, as it does not meet the strict requirements of the air quality directive. The data is used to measure progress for local air quality management purposes and supports the actions Brighton and Hove Council is taking to reduce emissions and improve air quality.