Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee has published recommendations on protecting children and the elderly from air pollution, known to cause health problems. The committee has called on the government to include legal air quality obligations in new road building plans, consider a diesel scrappage scheme and to apply pressure at European level to ensure legislation.

8 December 2014 – New schools, hospitals and care homes must not be built next to air pollution hotspots to help reduce the tens of thousands of deaths currently being caused by nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate pollution (PM 2.5 and PM 10) every year in our cities, the Environmental Audit Committee has warned. Existing schools next to busy roads should also be fitted with air filtration systems.

Committee Chair, Joan Walley MP: “It is unacceptable that another generation of young people growing up in our towns and cities could have their health seriously impaired by illegal air pollution before the Government brings this public health crisis under control. Children growing up near busy roads with high NO2 and particle emissions have stunted and impaired lung development. There is also emerging evidence that air pollution can increase infant mortality rates, prompt pre-term births and affect cognitive performance.”

“Well over a thousand schools around the country are 150 metres away from major roads. Protecting children and vulnerable people in the worst affected areas must be made a priority by Government and Local Authorities. Ministers must pluck up the political courage to take the potentially unpopular decisions necessary to get the most polluting vehicles off the road and encourage more people to walk, cycle or take public transport.”

Low Emission Zones

A National Framework of Low Emission Zones (LEZ) needs to be urgently set-up to enable LEZs, like the one in London, to be rolled out across the country to reduce inner city pollution. LEZs are one of the most powerful tools that local authorities have for controlling vehicle emissions, according to the report, but few have introduced them. London has operated a low emission zone since 2008 and plans to introduce a limited Ultra Low Emission Zone in 2020, but elsewhere in the UK few have been set up. Those that have been (in Norwich, for example) are limited in scope. In contrast, Germany has a national framework of over 70 LEZs.

Joan Walley MP concluded: “New figures suggest air pollution from heavy traffic could be killing almost the same amount of people as smoking in the UK, yet the Government seems unwilling to put saving lives before economic growth.”

“Low emission zones in cities could save lives, but diesel drivers who face extra charges deserve to be compensated so they can switch to less polluting vehicles. A national framework for low emission zones could save councils from having to reinvent the wheel each time by providing a template with common core features, such as a national certification scheme for vehicle emissions.”

Local Authorities

The Government should issue new planning guidance to ensure local authorities prioritise air quality in planning decisions. The Committee is calling on Local Authorities to use the existing air quality provision in the National Planning Policy Framework [1] to ensure that new schools and workplaces have adequate public transport links and be easily reached by bicycle or foot from the surrounding community to reduce the need for car journeys. The Government should help by launching a national public awareness campaign to raise public understanding of the air quality and provide guidance to improving it.

The Committee recommends

The report calls on the Government to take urgent action to comply with legal limits on air pollution and save lives by implementing the following recommendations:

- Include legal air quality obligations in new infrastructure and road building plans;

- Close legal loopholes that allow mechanics firms to remove engine filter from HGVs;

- Examine fiscal measures to gradually encourage a move away from diesel vehicles;

- Consider introducing a diesel scrappage scheme to help drivers switch to cleaner vehicles;

- Launch an independent public inquiry to look at the required action on air pollution;

- Apply pressure at European level to ensure effective EU legislation and 5 emission standards backed up by a robust testing regime.

For further information, please visit www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/environmental-audit-committee/