§ Mr. MacShaneTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to measure levels of(a) nitrogen oxides, (b) sulphur dioxide, (c) ozone, (d) carbon monoxide and (e) PM10 in Rotherham.
§ Mr. AtkinsMy Department, in co-operation with local authorities, operates national monitoring networks which measure, inter alia, levels of smoke and sulphur dioxide on a daily basis, and the levels of nitrogen dioxide on a monthly basis. the sites at Brampton, Dinnigton, Maltby and Wath upon Dearne in the Rotherham area form part of the national smoke and sulphur dioxide network. The levels of nitrogen dioxide are measured at four separate sites in the Rotherham metropolitan area: Doncaster gate, Wellgate, Broom and Eastwood.
I understand that further air quality monitoring is undertaken in Rotherham by the local authority, and at present covers ozone, nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide.
The Government's strategy for the general development of air quality monitoring was recently set out in "Air Quality: Meeting the Challenge", a copy of which has been deposited in the Library of the House. This includes proposals for the progressive integration of national and local authority monitoring networks into a single quality-assured network.