The government has launched a call for evidence today (5
October) on which public bodies should be designated to
become Air Quality Partners to help cut emissions.
This approach will ensure all relevant public bodies, not
just local authorities, are playing their part in helping
to reduce pollution at a local level, ensuring a better
joined-up delivery.
Under the new approach, the Environment Secretary will have
the power to designate Air Quality Partners which have some
responsibility for sources of local pollution (such as a
specific stretch of road or site that emits pollution). Air
Quality Partners will be required to assist in developing
and implementing an action plan to cut the pollution
output.
The call for evidence asks for views as to which public
authorities should be designated. A public authority may be
relevant for designation where:
- It carries out duties of a public nature
- It is responsible for a source of local air pollution
- It is able to take certain actions to reduce local
concentrations of pollution
Environment Minister said:
Local authorities are best placed to tackle certain
issues at a local level, but we want to ensure they don’t
shoulder the burden alone and that all relevant public
bodies are pulling in the same direction to help clean up
our air.
I encourage all local authorities to provide their
thoughts on which organisations we should designate under
powers we are bringing in through the Environment Bill,
to help reduce local pollution levels.
Through the Bill we aim to update the Local Air Quality
Management Framework (LAQM) to broaden the range of
organisations that play a role in improving local air
quality across the country.
This call for evidence aims to harness the knowledge of
local authorities to better shape how these plans are
implemented ahead of a full consultation once the
Environment Bill becomes law.
