Councils failing to report local air quality

A NUMBER of local authorities are failing to comply with a duty to report air quality in their areas, it has been reported.

Air pollution is linked to an estimated 40,000 early deaths, according to the Royal Colleges of Physicians and of Paediatrics and Child Health– with the problem being labelled an “emergency” by politicians.

Government statistics show 37 out of 43 areas across the UK are exceeding legal European Union limits for key pollutant nitrogen dioxide, much of which comes from diesel engines.

The latest draft of the Air Quality plan said local authorities had powers to implement clean air zones, and that, where the evidence shows persistent illegal air quality, councils must develop plans to achieve compliance within the shortest time pos- sible. “Local authorities know their areas best and are best placed to take the lead in rectifying the problem,” the Government document said.

But environmental news website DeSmog UK said a number of councils had not provided legally required air quality reports.

Freedom of Information requests seen by the site suggested that of 77 local authorities, 59 did not have all of their required reports made available to the public.

It was also reported that one council has not produced reports for 2011, 2012 and 2015 due to a “lack of specialist staff both internally and also in the wide recruitment field”.

Kettering Borough Council told DeSmog UK: “To counter this, we are now in the process of ‘ growing our own’ specialist capacity in-house.”