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The Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP

MP for North Shropshire

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Air Quality

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Thank you for contacting me about air quality.

It is encouraging that air pollution has reduced significantly since 2010. Emissions of nitrogen oxides have fallen by 33 per cent and are at their lowest level since records began, however, there is still more to do. 

The Government has put in place a £3.8 billion plan to improve air quality and create cleaner transport. This includes nearly a £1.5 billion investment to support the uptake of ultra-low emissions vehicles; £1.2 billion to increase cycling and walking and make our roads safer for vulnerable users; and £880 million to help local authorities develop and implement local air quality plans and to support those impacted by these plans. This funding is in addition to a further £2.5 billion to support a number of cities improve their local transport systems through the Transforming Cities Fund.

The Chancellor announced at the Budget last March a £304 million investment in capital over the next two years to combat roadside pollution, enabling local authorities to take steps to reduce nitrogen dioxide emissions.

You may be aware that the Government’s Clean Air Strategy aims to cut air pollution and save lives, backed up by new primary legislation. The Strategy details how the UK will go further and faster than the EU in reducing exposure to particulate matter pollution. It sets out a goal to halve the number of people living in locations with concentrations of particulate matter above WHO guidelines and I am encouraged that it has been described by the WHO as 'an example for the rest of the world to follow'.

The Environment Bill builds on this Strategy and sets an ambitious, legally binding target to reduce fine particulate matter, and increase local powers to address sources of air pollution. This target will be among the most ambitious in the world and improve the quality of millions of people’s lives. 

The Government is committed to taking action on PM 2.5, as it is the pollutant that has the most significant impact on health. Ministers are developing a clear evidence-based process for setting the fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) target introduced in the Environment Bill. This process will involve thorough analysis and independent expert advice, considering economic, social and technological factors. It will also involve detailed analysis to assess what additional action would be needed to achieve potential targets. Both Parliament and the public will have the opportunity to provide input to the development of an ambitious and achievable target.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.

Campaign Responses

  • Trade Deals 19/1/21
  • CAMRA Save Our Pubs Campaign
  • Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffee and Anoosheh Ashoori
  • Coronavirus: Closed Churches
  • Planning Reform
  • British Heart Foundation and Medical Research Charities
  • Free School Meals 27/10/2020
  • Immigration Bill: Family Reunion
  • Women and Equal Pay
  • MPs' Pay
  • Shelter's 'Building Our Way Out' Report
  • Immigration Detention Time Limit
  • Coronavirus: Maternity Care
  • 'Fire and Rehire' Tactics
  • Agriculture Bill: Animal Welfare and Trade
  • Breast Cancer
  • Coronavirus: Disabled Welfare
  • EU Negotiations
  • Coronavirus: Household Debt
  • Asylum Seekers Support and Employment
  • NHS Pay Rise
  • Global Wildlife Trade Ban
  • Protecting Girls in Crisis
  • Extension of Covid-19 Support Schemes
  • Fuel Duty
  • Medical Cannabis: Epilepsy
  • Proportional Property Tax Proposal
  • Israel: Peace Agreements
  • Coronavirus: Public Test and Trace
  • Air Quality
  • Pet Microchipping
  • Green Recovery
  • Pancreatic Cancer's No Time to Wait Campaign
  • Children's Health
  • Overseas Operations Bill
  • Asylum Support Payments
  • Internal Market Bill
  • Coronavirus: Vulnerable Christians
  • Wellbeing and Counselling in Schools
  • Disposable BBQs
  • Domestic Abuse Bill
  • Coronavirus: Ovarian Cancer
  • General Practice
  • Humanist Marriages
  • Adult Social Care
  • Sustainable Fishing - Super Trawlers
  • Coronavirus: Mental Health
  • Arthritis
  • Investor-State Dispute Settlement Mechanisms
  • Eco-Friendly Education Buildings
  • Legal Aid
  • Wildlife Licensing
  • Trade Deals
  • Persecution of Christians
  • Coronavirus: Travel Industry
  • Heat Pumps
  • Yemen
  • Low Income Countries: Debt Cancellation
  • EDM 529
  • Rough Sleeping
  • Coronavirus: Performing Arts
  • Black Curriculum
  • Coronavirus: Clinically Vulnerable Returning to Work
  • British Food Production Standards
  • FCO and DfID Merger
  • Mental Health: Face to Face Assessments
  • Coronavirus: Government backing for business
  • George Floyd, Black Lives Matter and export controls
  • Immigration Bill
  • Radiotherapy Services
  • PPE: Health and Social Care
  • Road Speed Limits
  • Fur Free Britain Campaign
  • Coronavirus: Asylum Support Payments
  • Israel the West Bank
  • 'No Recourse to Public Funds' Campaign
  • Trade Bill - US Free Trade Agreement
  • Illegal Wildlife Trade - EDM139
  • Trophy Hunting - EDM50
  • Environment Bill: OEP
  • Coronavirus: Free School Meals
  • Coronavirus: Trussell Trust's Proposed Emergency Income Support Scheme
  • Coronavirus: Abortion
  • Coronavirus: Childcare and Childminders
  • Environment Bill: Air Quality
  • Windrush Report
  • Universities and Antisemitism
  • Immigration Points System
  • EDM57 - Regulation of Social Networks
  • Coronavirus: Motor Nurone Disease
  • Horseracing: use of the whip
  • EDM 291 - Ban on war experiments on animals
  • Coronavirus: Iran Sanctions
  • Dementia Care
  • Agriculture Bill: Animal Welfare and Food Safety
  • Northern Ireland Abortion Framework
  • Animal Cruelty Sentencing
  • Gamebird Welfare
  • My letter to constituents regarding Government financial support for airlines
  • Voter ID
  • Brexit update 10th October 2019
  • 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration
  • Adults with eating disorders
  • Cycling and Walking
  • TV licence for over-75s
  • "People's Vote"
  • Arms to Saudi Arabia
  • Tax Cuts
  • Affordable Housing
  • Earthquakes and Fracking
  • Probate Fees
  • My letter to Constituents regarding the suspension of Parliament
  • Consumer Credit and "rip off loans"
  • Trafficked children
  • Trophy Hunting
  • Immigration Bill and the NHS
  • NHS Long Term Plan
  • Puppy Smuggling
  • Assisted Dying event 11th December
  • Caging of pheasants and partridges
  • Beer Duty
  • Sex-selective abortion
  • Dying at Home
  • Rohingya Children
  • Footpaths
  • BBC impartiality
  • Defend Israel
  • Ban Al Quds and Hezbollah
  • Stand Up for Nature
  • Communities vs Blood Cancer
  • Homelessness
  • Horses on the road
  • Horse tethering
  • Fracking
  • Offensive Weapons Bill and shop workers
  • Royal Commission on Policing
  • FIxed Odds Betting Terminals
  • DVLA and diabetes monitoring technology
  • Future trade deals
  • Housing Regulator
  • Stop Christophobia campaign 21/05/19
  • The Abuse of Children and Civilians by Hamas
  • Live Exports
  • Cost of Medicines
  • Plastic pollution in UK rivers
  • Eating disorders
  • Forced abortion
  • Cancer Treatment - Coronavirus

Owen Paterson MP MP for North Shropshire

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