CIEH calls upon the Government to restore the air quality grant scheme for local authorities

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) has responded to the Government’s decision to withdraw millions of pounds for local authorities to tackle air pollution, joining the Healthy Air Coalition’s calls for the urgent restoration of funding.

The air quality grant scheme has awarded more than £90m to local authorities since 1997 but in a last-minute change, Robbie Moore, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defra, with responsibility for air quality, has told local authorities that this funding would now cease.

Local authorities had been promised around £6 million this year to deliver innovative projects to improve air quality. CIEH previously responded to this initial announcement, outlining that whilst welcomed, the scheme was insufficient to deliver the required resourcing for local authorities to improve air quality. Ultimately, allowing local authorities to bid for grant funding is no substitute for adequate levels of funding, but in its absence, the air quality grant is an essential source of support for local authorities.

Local authorities play a crucial role in enforcing air quality legislation and implementing the various initiatives to reach air quality targets, from Smoke Control Areas to Clean Air Zones. In our response to Defra’s draft Air Quality Strategy last year, we outlined that without adequate resourcing, local authorities won’t be able to deliver upon the pressure to tackle air pollution.

Louise Hosking, Executive Director of Environmental Health at CIEH, said:

"This is an alarming, yet sadly unsurprising, move by the Government backsliding on its commitment to tackling air pollution. Air pollution is the single greatest environmental risk to public health, responsible for seven million deaths annually.

Our members work at the front line in tackling local air pollution in their areas, and they should be supported with the necessary resources, adequate staffing, and additional inspection capacity to enforce restrictions and reduce pollution.

We at CIEH call upon the government to reconsider this depressing U-turn and more importantly build a sufficient funding model for local authorities and protect the millions who breathe toxic air each day.”