menu
menu
Tens of thousands of lives are being shortened in the UK by air pollution, according to the Environment Agency.
Bristol Central MP Carla Denyer has highlighted the need for local authorities to be given the funding they need to keep residents safe from this dangerous air pollution.
In a hearing of the Environmental Audit Committee, Carla questioned Livi Elsemore, an air quality expert, on what is needed to make sure national and local government are working together to improve air quality.
Following a discussion on cross-government working, Carla asked:
“I’m interested in cross-government in the other direction, i.e. connection with local government. So, to what extent do you think the revised EIP [Environmental Improvement Plan] with regards to air quality is joined up enough with the local government?”
In her reply, Livi Elsmore from the Healthy Air Coalition agreed that working with local government is crucial, noting that funding challenges may be preventing local authorities from taking the action needed.
Livi Elsmore replied:
“We know that air pollution, being a national but also a localised issue, it’s local authorities […] and then also metro mayors and regional authorities are the ones that know their areas best.
“So they’re the ones who often have the levers on the ground, as well as those legal responsibilities.
“As the Healthy Air Coalition, we’re not entirely sure that local authorities always have the powers and the resources that they need to take action on air pollution, particularly in a challenging funding environment.”
In 2022, a Clean Air Zone was introduced in Bristol after it was estimated that air pollution was responsible for 300 deaths in the city each year.
Last year, Carla Denyer wrote to the then-secretary for Housing, Communities and Local Government about the urgent need to address the crisis in local authority funding.
Now, the House of Commons’ Environmental Audit Committee is launching an inquiry into air pollution. MPs will explore the impacts air pollution has on our health, our food crops, and on nature; and whether Government’s current air quality targets are adequate to protect us. The inquiry is now open for evidence.