§ Derek TwiggTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list by each local authority area in England and Wales the concentration of the pollutants(a) benzene, (b) 1,3 butadiene, (c) carbon monoxide, (d) lead, (e) nitrogen dioxide, (f) particles (PMI), and (g) sulphur dioxide for 1997 to 2001. [29322]
§ Mr. Meacher[holding answer 22 January 2002]: This information is not held centrally. Local authorities are not required to monitor levels of each of these pollutants unless it appears from their modelling results that they are unlikely to achieve the nationally prescribed air quality objectives by the relevant deadlines. Our national monitoring network indicates that between 1997 and 2001 levels of most of these pollutants have fallen across England and Wales, and most local authorities are on course to meet the prescribed objectives for each of the pollutants. However, a number of authorities have identified possible difficulties with the objectives for nitrogen dioxide, particles and, to a lesser extent, sulphur dioxide. The table lists each of the authorities which has to date designated an air quality management area (AQMA), and highlights the pollutants in respect of which the AQMA has been designated.
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Authority Date of effect Pollutant(s) London local authorities Barnet1 18 April 2001 NO2, PM10 Brent 2 April 2001 NO2, PM10 Bexley 22 August 2001 PM10 Camden 30 October 2000 NO2, PM10 Corporation of London1 26 January 2001 NO2, PM10 Croydon 2 October 2000 NO2 Ealing1 14 December 2000 NO2, PM10 Enfield1 31 March 2001 NO2, PM10 Greenwich 1 July 2001 NO2, PM10 Hackney 23 March 2001 NO2 Haringey 1 July 2001 NO2, PM10 Hammersmith and Fulham1 3 November 2000 NO2, PM10 Hillingdon 1 May 2001 NO2 Hounslow 15 March 2001 NO2 Islington 19 January 2001 NO2, PM10 Kensington and Chelsea1 6 December 2000 NO2, PM10 Lambeth 1 May 2001 NO2, PM10 Lewisham 1 July 2001 NO2, PM10 Merton 28 March 2001 NO2, PM10 Richmond upon Thames1 31 December 2000 NO2, PM10 Southwark 1 October 2000 NO2, PM10 Sutton 29 March 2001 NO2, PM10 Tower Hamlets1 6 December 2000 NO2, PM10 Waltham Forest1 31 October 2001 NO2, PM10 Wandsworth1 1 January 2001 NO2, PM10 Westminster1 9 March 1999 NO2, PM10 Other English authorities Babergh District Council 28 August 2001 NO2 Barnsley MBC 3 October 2001 NO2 Bath and North East Somerset 2 February 2002 NO2
Authority Date of effect Pollutant(s) Blaby Borough Council 19 January 2001 NO,2 Bolsover DC 1 December 2001 NO2 Boston BC 10 September 2001 NO2 Bromsgrove DC 26 July 2001 NO2 Broxbourne BC 1 November 2001 NO2, PM10 Bristol City Council 1 May 2001 NO2, PM10 Colchester BC 1 May 2001 NO2 Charnwood BC 20 June 2001 NO2 (3) Dartford BC 1 October 2001 NO2, PM10 Derby CC 1 August 2001 NO2 Doncaster 1 August 2001 NO2 (3) East Herts 6 August 2001 PM10 Fenland District Council 1 May 2001 SO2, PM10 Harborough DC 18 July 2001 NO2 Herefordshire Council 23 November 2001 NO2 Hertsmere BC 30 August 2001 NO2 Hinckley and Bosworth BC 9 May 2001 NO2 Leeds 1 July 2001 NO2, PM10 Leicester City Council 29 December 2000 NO2, PM10 Maidstone BC 1 August 2001 NO2 Manchester 31 July 2001 NO2, PM10 Melton 21 April 2001 NO2 North Warwickshire BC 1 March 2001 NO2 North West Leicestershire 23 April 2001 NO2 (6) Oldham 1 June 2001 NO2, PM10 Oxford CC 1 September 2001 NO2 Rotherham MBC 1 January 2002 NO2 Runnymede BC 4 December 2001 NO2, PM10 Rushmoor BC 31 October 2000 NO2 Salford 1 June 2001 NO2, PM10 Salisbury 24 July 2001 NO2 (4) Sheffield CC 5 December 2001 NO2 South Gloucestershire 1 November 2001 NO2 South Kesteven DC 1 August 2001 NO2, PM10 South Lakeland 5 May 2001 NO2 Spelthorne 1 December 2000 NO2 St. Edmundsbury 1 September 2001 NO2 Stoke-on-Trent DC 23 November 2001 NO2 Stroud and Tewkesbury (joint AQMA) 30 June 2001 NO2 Tameside MBC 1 July 2001 NO2, PM10 Tewkesbury and Stroud (joint AQMA) 30 June 2001 NO2, PM10 Three Rivers 1 April 2001 NO2, PM10 Thurrock 1 April 2001 NO2, PM10 Tonbridge and Mailing 1 May 2001 NO2, PM10 Trafford MBC 29 June 2001 NO2, PM10 Warrington BC 1 November 2001 NO2 West Wiltshire DC 26 November 2001 NO2, PM10 Wigan Council 13 August 2001 NO2 Wokingham DC 28 September 2001 NO2 Wycombe DC 1 August 2001 NO2 Wales Neath Port Talbot2 1 July 2000 PM10 Cardiff November 2000 NO2 Swansea 31 August 2001 NO2 1 Indicates designation of whole borough 2 Where industry is one of the main sources Note:
The figure in brackets in the third column denotes the number of AQMAs declared in those authority areas where more than one has been declared
§ Derek TwiggTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent investigations have been undertaken by her Department on the impact of air pollution on health. [29320]
§ Mr. Meacher[holding answer 22 January 2002]: The Department of Health's Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) advises the Government, through the Chief Medical Officer, on the effects of air pollution on health.
1167WCOMEAP publish the statements and reports that they prepare on their website at www.doh.gov.uk/comeap. Recent studies include a "Statement and Report on Long-Term Effects of Particles on Mortality" and 'The Health effects of Air Pollution: Advice from COMEAP".
Also published on the website are details of a recent call for research proposals on air pollution and health. This new research is aiming to cover projects to be carried out over a three-year period as well as some smaller projects lasting for about one year.
§ Derek TwiggTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she last reviewed the air quality strategy; and what the main findings of the review were. [29319]
§ Mr. Meacher[holding answer 22 January 2002]: The Air Quality Strategy for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland was published in January 2000. The strategy is not expected to need a comprehensive review for a few years. Instead, the Government and devolved Administrations have decided to review the strategy on a pollutant by pollutant basis to allow reviews of individual pollutants to be carried out relatively quickly, and to allow the outcomes of these reviews to be published was addenda to the strategy. The first of these reviews as published for consultation on 17 September 2001. It considered the possibility of tightening the existing policy objectives for three pollutants (carbon monoxide, benzene and particles) and of introducing for the first time a policy objective for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. A large number of responses to the consultation document were received, and we will take account of these in finalising our proposals.