Cleaning up Yorkshire’s air ‘needs the Government to act’
POLLUTION IN Yorkshire needs to be tackled by the Government, who must also aim for EU standards of air quality even after Brexit, a group of MPs have said.
Sheffield, West Yorkshire and Yorkshire and Humberside are breaching current air quality limits and the Environmental Audit Commmittee wants the Department for Transport (DfT) to play more of a role in solving the problem.
Committee chair Mary Creagh, said: “The Government’s belated plan to tackle air quality means polluted towns and cities will hit 2010 air quality targets 10 years late, in 2020. Transport authorities throughout England told us they have had problems with getting sustainable transport projects off the ground, because the DfT places more importance on economic benefits rather than the health benefits of improving air quality.
With the vote to leave the EU, there’s a material risk to our air quality targets. At the very least, the Government should commit to keeping existing European air quality standards. We also want the Department to work with the Treasury, Health and Local Government Departments to ensure the benefits of clean air are properly costed in transport investment decisions.”
The committee also found that the DfT needs a clear strategy to increase the use of ultra-low emission vehicles and deal with the VW cheat device scandal so that it can meet decarbonisation and air quality targets. The Government’s projections show they will miss their own target for ultra-low emission vehicles to make up 9 per cent of all new car and van sales by 2020, which the Committee on Climate Change says is necessary to meet the country’s climate change targets in the most cost-effective way.
They are also calling for clearer decarbonisation targets from Network Rail and train operating companies, showing how targets have been chosen, and how performance against them will be measured. Network Rail, which is responsible for 16,000km of track, is now classified as a public body and should report on its sustainability through the Greening Government Commitments agenda just as Highways England are required to do.
A DfT spokesman said: “We want nearly all cars and vans to be zero emission by 2050 and are investing more than £600m in this Parliament to support the manufacture, use and uptake of ultralow emission vehicles.”
There’s a material risk to our air quality targets. Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, Mary Creagh