Air Pollution (Hansard, 31 March 2003)

§ Mr. Bercow
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much funding has been made available by her Department to tackle air pollution in Buckinghamshire in 2002–03. [105695]

§ Alun Michael
The Department wrote to local authorities in England on 14 February last year inviting applications for Supplementary Credit Approvals to support proposals for capital expenditure in 2002–03 on their air quality management duties under Part IV of the Environment Act 1995. Milton Keynes was the only authority in Buckinghamshire to apply, and £30,000 in additional borrowing powers has been awarded. Since 1997/98 the Government's annual revenue support grant settlement has included provision to support local authorities running costs associated with these duties.

§ Mr. Bercow
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many days of(a) moderate, (b) high and (c) very high air pollution there were (i) in the United Kingdom and (ii) in Buckinghamshire in 2002; and if she will make a statement on the suspected causes of high and very high readings. [106013]

§ Alun Michael
Air quality is now a devolved matter therefore my reply focuses on England. According to data provided by the Automatic Urban and Rural monitoring Network (AURN), the number of days air pollution at at least one AURN sites in England in 2002 was:

(a) moderate: 194.

(b) high: 25.

(c) very high: 4.

Very high readings were all related to particles (PM10). Of the 25 high readings, two were related to sulphur dioxide (S02), four were related to ozone and the remaining 19 were all related to particles (PM10). Meteorological conditions also affects the level of all pollutants.
There is no AURN site in Buckinghamshire but all local authorities, including in Buckinghamshire, have a statutory duty under Part IV of the Environment Act 1995 to review and assess the local air quality in their area against the national air quality objectives. I have provided information on the five local authorities in Buckinghamshire in PQ 106012.

§ John Robertson
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the air quality strategy. [105421]

§ Alun Michael
The Government and Devolved Administrations' air quality policies are set out in detail in the air quality strategy for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, published in January 2000. An Addendum to the strategy was published in February 2003. The strategy and addendum can be found at http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/airquality/index.htm.
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The strategy sets objectives for nine main air pollutants to protect human health and two objectives to protect vegetation and ecosystems. The air pollutants covered by the strategy are benzene; 1,3-butadiene; carbon monoxide; lead; nitrogen dioxide; particles (PM₁₀); ozone; sulphur dioxide and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
The Government and devolved Administrations monitor progress to meeting the objectives in the strategy through the national air quality monitoring network, which consists of over 1,500 sites. Over 120 of these sites are sophisticated, real-time monitors from which information is available hour-by-hour, 24 hours a day, via a dedicated website: www.airquality.co.uk.
Air quality monitoring indicates that we are on course or have already met objectives for six of the nine pollutants in England, namely benzene, 1,3-butadiene, carbon monoxide, lead, sulphur dioxide and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. This is as a result of the measures that have been implemented over the last decade or so.
Additional measures are likely to be needed if we are to meet the nitrogen dioxide and particles objectives in certain parts of England. We are considering those in the context of the delivery of our DEFRA/DfT joint Air Quality Public Service Agreement. We are also expecting to exceed the ozone objective in parts of southern England. However we believe that internationally agreed measures are the most effective ways to tackling this pollutant as ground level ozone concentrations in southern England are influenced largely by transboundary pollution. The UK will play a key role in seeking further agreements on international measures.

§ Mr. Bercow
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made in Buckinghamshire towards meeting the National Air Quality Strategy targets. [106012]

§ Alun Michael
Local authorities have a statutory duty under Part IV of the Environment Act 1995 to review and assess the local air quality in their area against the national air quality objectives for seven of the pollutants prescribed in regulations for the purpose of local air quality management. Where it is likely that the air quality objectives will not be met by the relevant deadline, the local authority must designate an air quality management area and produce an action plan setting out the measures they intend to implement to work towards meeting the air quality objectives.
Of the five local authorities in the Buckinghamshire region (Milton Keynes, Aylesbury Vale District Council, Chiltern District Council, South Buckinghamshire District Council and Wycombe District Council), only one authority (Wycombe District Council) has declared an air quality management area along the M40 motorway due to predicted exceedences of the annual mean Nitrogen Dioxide objective. Wycombe District Council has produced an action plan which has been appraised by my Department. Wycombe will now have to work with the Highways Agency and other stakeholders to look to implement the most cost-effective and proportionate measures to improve the local air quality within the area affected by the M40.