This Government, through our landmark Environment Act, have set key targets that we will be delivering on—many Opposition Members did not support all of its measures. As for supporting local authorities, as I have said, we are investing £53 million to support them in delivering more than 500 projects to specifically tackle air pollution and air quality issues.

Government has worked with 64 English Local Authorities as part of the NO2 programme. Most have completed delivery of their measures. To date Local Authorities have received £702m of support: £300m as part of the Implementation Fund, for the development and implementation of air quality measures; and £402m through the Clean Air Fund, to mitigate the impacts of air quality measures, for example by providing financial support to residents and businesses to upgrade to cleaner vehicles. Local Authorities in the programme are supported by a dedicated account manager to provide support while they develop, implement and evaluate their measures.

Under the 2017 UK Plan for Tackling Roadside Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Concentrations, Coventry City Council are required to take action to address NO2 pollution and develop plans to bring levels to within legal limits. The council have received funding as follows to develop and implement their local plan to address NO2 exceedances: 2018 - £2,621,000; 2019 - £5 million; 2020 - £20 million; 2021 - £947,000.

Under the 2017 UK Plan for Tackling Roadside Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Concentrations, Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council are required to take action to address NO2 pollution and develop plans to bring levels to within legal limits. The councils have received funding as follows to develop and implement their local plan to address NO2 exceedances: 2018 - £900,000; 2019 - £1,303,128; 2020 - £240,000; 2021 - £1,808,836

Defra also provides funding to English councils through the Air Quality Grant to help them develop and implement locally targeted measures. In 2021 Staffordshire County Council received over £ 296,000 from the air quality grant to support air quality improvement locally.

Defra provides funding to English councils through the Air Quality Grant to help them develop and implement locally targeted measures. In 2023 Lincolnshire County Council was awarded £58,000 from the grant to promote behaviour change to reduce air pollution.

Defra provides funding to English councils through the Air Quality Grant to help them develop and implement locally targeted measures. In 2023 Bedford County Council was awarded £249,178 for projects aimed at improving air quality.

A wide and diverse range of complex policies affect air quality. Additionally, owing to the transboundary nature of air pollution, government is taking action not just locally, but also nationally and internationally. Due to this complexity, government does not consider it proportionate or beneficial to disaggregate total air quality spending at a regional level.

A wide and diverse range of complex policies affect air quality. Additionally, owing to the transboundary nature of air pollution, government is taking action not just locally, but also nationally and internationally. Due to this complexity, government does not consider it proportionate or beneficial to disaggregate total air quality spending at a regional level.

A wide and diverse range of complex policies affect air quality. Additionally, owing to the transboundary nature of air pollution, government is taking action not just locally, but also nationally and internationally. Due to these complexities, it is not possible to disaggregate air quality spending at a regional level.

A wide and diverse range of complex policies affect air quality. Additionally, owing to the transboundary nature of air pollution, government is taking action not just locally, but also nationally and internationally. Due to these complexities, it is not possible to disaggregate air quality spending at a regional level.

A wide and diverse range of complex policies affect air quality. Additionally, owing to the transboundary nature of air pollution, government is taking action not just locally, but also nationally and internationally. Due to these complexities, it is not possible to disaggregate air quality spending at a regional level.

A wide and diverse range of complex policies affect air quality. Additionally, owing to the transboundary nature of air pollution, government is taking action not just locally, but also nationally and internationally. Due to these complexities, it is not possible to disaggregate air quality spending at a regional level.

The Secretary of State has not had recent discussions with the Mayor of the West Midlands on improving air quality.

The Secretary of State has had limited discussions with the Local Government Association (LGA) and local authorities regarding air quality due to the very short time in post. Tackling air quality is a Government priority and the Secretary of State will continue dialogue with these key stakeholders on this important matter.

I sympathise with local residents near Walleys Quarry who have had to put up with the awful odours from the landfill site. I receive weekly updates from Environment Agency about the progress being made at the site and I welcome the recent agreement between the operator and Newcastle-Under-Lyme Borough Council in relation to the nuisance abatement order in place. I hope that the progress made there to contain, capture and destroy the gas produced is maintained over the winter.

HM Government does not consider that a new Clean Air Act would add any benefit to our comprehensive existing air quality legal framework, which already allows us the powers and capability we need to make effective interventions to drive down air pollution.

This includes the Environment Act 2021, under which we have consulted on two new targets for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) - the pollutant most harmful to human health. The primary focus of our new targets is to drive improvements to public health.

Latest published figures show that air pollution has reduced significantly since 2010. Emissions of nitrogen oxides have fallen by 44% - and are at their lowest level since records began, sulphur dioxide emissions have fallen by 70% and fine particulate matter emissions are down 18%. However, HM Government recognises that there is more to do to protect people and the environment from the effects of air pollution.

Local authorities have a critical role to play in tackling air pollutants. That is why we are providing £883 million to help local authorities develop and implement local NO2 reduction plans. As part of our commitment to making walking and cycling the natural choice for millions more journeys, we have invested more than £2 billion in funding for cycling and walking over this Parliament. In addition, we have committed over £2.8 billion funding to support local authorities in rolling out electric vehicle charging infrastructure to tackle tailpipe emissions.

Since 2010, we have allocated more than £42 million in funding to local authorities in England to support air quality projects in local communities and reduce emissions affecting schools, businesses, and communities. We expect to allocate at least £7 million in the 2023 round, for which applications have now closed. Successful applicants will be announced early next year.

We will also be providing funding up to £2.3 million to local authorities with Smoke Control Areas for measures introduced through our landmark Environment Act 2021 to improve the enforcement and management of smoke emissions in smoke control areas in England.

The United Kingdom engages Germany on efforts to improve air quality via membership to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution. Both Germany and the United Kingdom have ratified the 2012 amended Gothenburg Protocol which sets mutually agreed emission reduction targets for 5 key pollutants for 2020 and beyond.

The United Kingdom engages France on efforts to improve air quality via membership to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution. Both France and the United Kingdom have ratified the 2012 amended Gothenburg Protocol which sets mutually agreed emission reduction targets for 5 key pollutants for 2020 and beyond.

Natural England has recently updated the Countryside Code which makes clear visitors’ responsibilities in protecting the environment when accessing the outdoors, including the need to take rubbish and food waste home, using public bins or recycling if possible.

We also launched the “Keep it, Bin it” anti-litter campaign in 2018 with Keep Britain Tidy to encourage people to dispose of their litter responsibly. Last year, Keep Britain Tidy made the campaign available to local authorities and other land managers for local use.

Thanks to our single-use carrier bag charge, the number of single-use plastic carrier bags sold by the main retailers has fallen by over 97%. According to Keep Britain Tidy, in 2014/15, plastic bags were noted as a top 20 most common type of litter found in England. In 2020, plastic bags were no longer a top 20 item across the UK.

We have also consulted on introducing a deposit return scheme for drinks containers. We estimate that the scheme can reduce drinks containers being littered by 85%. Further details on when a Deposit Return Scheme will be introduced will be set out in the Government response to last year's consultation. We are working towards publication in late 2022.