Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of setting the air quality target for PM2.5 at 10 micrograms per cubic meter by 2030 on (a) public health and (b) mortality rates.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) does not currently intend to undertake any assessments of the impact of air quality targets for PM2.5 on public health or mortality rates.
In 2023, UKHSA estimated the impact of current emission policies on future mortality and hospital admissions in the United Kingdom. This found a greater than 30% reduction in attributable mortality beyond 2030 for current policies compared with 2018.
In 2018, the former Public Health England estimated that a one µg/m3 reduction in fine particulate air pollution in England could prevent around 50,000 cases of coronary heart disease, 15,000 strokes, 9,000 cases of asthma and 4,000 lung cancers between 2017 and 2025.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport on the potential impact of railway electrification in Wales on air pollution.
Answered by Robbie Moore
The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a wide range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential.
Mentions:
1: Kerry McCarthy (Lab - Bristol East) It is clearly not an air pollution issue from his point of view. - Speech Link
2: Kerry McCarthy (Lab - Bristol East) Air pollution was down by an incredible 26.9%. - Speech Link
3: Ruth Cadbury (Lab - Brentford and Isleworth) Air pollution is a health crisis. There is a national air crisis. - Speech Link
4: Fleur Anderson (Lab - Putney) Air pollution is like a ticking timebomb for our children. - Speech Link
5: Fleur Anderson (Lab - Putney) Eleven Londoners a day die prematurely because of air pollution. - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Hyslop, Fiona (SNP - Linlithgow) Experts around the world agree that measures such as LEZs are essential to tackle air pollution and, - Speech Link
2: Rowley, Alex (Lab - Mid Scotland and Fife) quality and air pollution where it exists. - Speech Link
3: Maguire, Ruth (SNP - Cunninghame South) pollution every year, does the cabinet secretary agree that air quality policies such as LEZs should - Speech Link
4: Hyslop, Fiona (SNP - Linlithgow) Air pollution is firmly in the public health arena. - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: None Act and take further steps to address the air pollution national health emergency in the UK. - Speech Link
2: None quality and the impact of air pollution on public health. - Speech Link
3: None pollution, including from transport, wood burning, industry and agriculture. - Speech Link
4: None As part of our commitment to tackling the health impacts of air pollution, the Government have funded - Speech Link
5: None I hope you are reassured that the Government are committed to tackling air pollution, and that action - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Baroness Brown of Cambridge (XB - Life peer) When we think of pollution, CO2 emissions causing climate change and plastic, water and air pollution - Speech Link
2: Earl Russell (LD - Excepted Hereditary) This is in stark contrast to policy on all other pollutants, such as air pollution, which sit directly - Speech Link
3: Baroness Neuberger (XB - Life peer) there is for air pollution—despite witnesses to the committee making it clear that there was no one - Speech Link
Asked by: Lord Bishop of St Albans (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the University of Copenhagen Lifetime exposure to air pollution and academic achievement: A nationwide cohort study in Denmark, published in March, particularly the finding that high levels of air pollution may negatively impact children’s cognitive development; and whether in light of this they will consider reinstating funding for the Air Quality Grant Scheme.
Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller
The Government keeps new studies on health impacts of air pollution under review and is advised by the Committee on Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP).
The Minister used his discretion not to fund the Local Air Quality Grant Scheme for the 2023-2024 financial year. He has asked Defra officials to consider the future of the scheme and how it might be redesigned to better deliver positive outcomes for local air quality and public health and therefore enhanced value for money for taxpayers.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 22 January 2022 to Question 102534 on Firewood: Air Pollution, if he will publish all the research studies to estimate the contribution of domestic wood burning to primary emissions of particulate matter that the Government has commissioned since 1 January 2022.
Answered by Robbie Moore
The contribution of domestic wood burning to primary emissions are estimated in our national atmospheric emissions inventory (NAEI). We publish the methods we use in the Informative Inventory Report and methods document on an annual basis on the NAEI website. The latest report can be found here.
We have commissioned a number of projects to estimate the emissions associated with different solids fuels and appliances and to track trends in domestic burning practices across the UK. The reports will be published in due course.
Asked by: Geraint Davies (Independent - Swansea West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 2 November 2022 to Question 70939 on Solid Fuels: Air Pollution, what his planned timetable is for publishing the project report of his Department's study to measure pollutant emissions from burning solid fuels in a range of domestic appliances under real-world conditions.
Answered by Robbie Moore
The Emissions Factors for Domestic Combustion project is currently expected to run until August 2024.
Written Evidence May. 22 2024
Inquiry: Food, Diet and ObesityFound: Even though pollution affects all communities, it is important to understand that outdoor air pollution