Conservatives: Improving air quality

Today, the Government has published its plan to improve air quality in the UK by tackling nitrogen dioxide in our towns and cities.  

Conservatives believe that poor air quality is the largest environmental threat to public health in the UK. Significant improvements have been made – UK emissions of toxic nitrogen oxides fell by almost 20 per cent between 2010 and 2015 – though we acknowledge that there is more to do. But there is a clear choice in terms of policy response – between common sense measures that will improve air quality, and higher taxes under Labour to fix a problem of their making.

The failure of European emission regulations, coupled with poor advice in promoting diesel cars from the previous Labour Government – advice they now admit was mistaken – has left our air more polluted than it should be. We are clear that it’s appropriate to take targeted local action to tackle emissions in key pollution hotspots. We don’t agree with the Labour approach of hitting motorists in the pocket by imposing charging zones and increasing parking charges. 

We are determined that any policies to improve air quality shouldn’t unfairly penalise ordinary working families, so today are consulting on further measures to mitigate any costs and burdens – including the options of targeted scrappage schemes and retrofitting initiatives. This is how we will help drivers on modest incomes who bought diesel vehicles on Labour’s advice.

We are proposing a further package of common-sense measures, including:

• Additional funding and regulatory changes to support the uptake of electric taxis, hydrogen vehicles and alternatively fuelled vans;
• Increasing the number of charge points for electric vehicles;
• Addressing the road humps, pinch points and poorly managed traffic lights that create congestion and pollution;
• New ‘Real Driving Emissions’ vehicle tests to ensure manufacturers are keeping to the rules;
• Improving consumer information at the point of sale, with new car fuel efficiency and by reviewing air pollution labelling – as already happens with the sale of white goods like a washing machine;
• Using government procurement to support the public sector take-up of cleaner vehicles;
• Measures to tackle pollution from generators, combustion plants and mobile machinery.

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Andrea Leadsom said:

“Improving air quality is a key priority as we support businesses in building a stronger and cleaner economy. Our plan today sets out how we will do just that – including presenting options for targeted diesel scrappage schemes.

“But in contrast to this common sense way forward, Jeremy Corbyn’s only solution would be to hit you in the pocket with higher taxes. The coalition of chaos propping him up in Downing Street would bring grave risk to our growing economy with higher taxes, fewer jobs, more waste and more debt.”

We have chosen not to ask councils to make any changes to parking charges – Jeremy Corbyn’s council of Islington has introduced a £96 a year blanket surcharge on resident parking permits for diesel cars.^[1] Nor will we mandate the introduction of charging within Clean Air Zones – measures other than charging zones will be preferred if they are as effective at reducing pollution.

Additionally, our modern Industrial Strategy will ensure Global Britain is at the forefront of developing new, innovative and cleaner technologies. 

EU vehicle emissions regulations have failed to deliver anticipated reductions in air pollution – because some irresponsible diesel car makers avoided or cheated the emissions reductions they had agreed. As a result, the UK is currently one of 17 EU countries breaching annual nitrogen dioxide targets. In fact, the UK would have met pollution limits agreed in EU law had the measures intended to achieve them actually been effective. 

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Conservatives in government have taken action. Since 2011, we have already committed over £2 billion: to help bus operators upgrade their fleets; support the development and take up of low emission vehicles; reduce pollution from a range of vehicles such as refuse trucks and fire engines and promote the development of clean alternative fuels. In addition, in the 2016 Autumn Statement, we announced a further £290 million to support electric vehicles, low emission buses and taxis, and alternative fuels.

Labour wrongly chose to promote diesel cars. Following tax changes in the early 2000s, the number of diesel cars in Great Britain soared from 3.2 million in 2000 to 8.2 million in 2010, and the number of diesel vans grew from 1.8 million to 3 million over the same period. This growth was a direct result of the Labour Government’s policy of actively encouraging diesel vehicle uptake to tackle carbon dioxide emissions. Jeremy Corbyn’s former Shadow Environment Minister has admitted: ’there’s absolutely no question that the decision we took [on diesel] was the wrong decision… Certainly the impact of that decision has been a massive problem for public health in this country’ (Barry Gardiner MP).^[2]

Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party would impose charging zones on councils across the country, hitting ordinary working people with new central government taxes.

‘Labour will bring forward a new Clean Air Act’ (Sue Hayman, Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs).^[3]

Labour Deputy Leader, Tom Watson, has been running a campaign on what such an Act should contain:

‘The new Clean Air Act would create a national network of low emission zones, building on the work already being carried out by Labour councils around the country, including in London and the West Midlands, to reduce the worst polluting traffic. It would introduce a set of common standards, tariffs and penalties across the country.’^[4]

EU regulation is a key part of the problem. The pollution limits in EU law agreed under the Labour Government (Directive 2008/50/EC) were based on the assumptions that improvements in vehicle technology were deliverable. While the UK meets the majority of air quality limits, the UK is one of 17 EU countries breaching annual targets for nitrogen dioxide. It is clear that this is a shared problem affecting the majority of the EU, caused by the failure of Euro standards for diesel vehicles to deliver expected reductions in nitrogen oxides. The UK would have met these limits if it were not for the failure of these vehicle standards to improve air quality as they were intended.