Assessment of the UK local authority’s air quality review and assessment procedure for the UK government

Project details

Funding bodies:

• Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
• Welsh Government; Scottish Government
• Greater London Authority
• Department of Environment, Northern Ireland

Collaborator: Air Quality Consultants Ltd

Dates: 1999-2011

Project summary

AQMRC supported Defra and the Devolved Administrations in the delivery of the Review and Assessment process for over a decade. The support provided to the UK Government and UK local authorities included:

• Contribution to the development of the UK Technical Guidance and Policy Guidance since the inception of Local Air Quality Management (LAQM).
• The evaluation of numerous technical and process aspects of the LAQM process in the UK, the outcomes of which fed directly into the 2003 and 2008/9 updates of official guidance and the In-House Policy Unit’s Review of LAQM.
• Provision of technical and policy support to local authorities through the provision of a helpdesk service.
• Official appraisal of all UK Local Authority Review and Assessment Reports submitted from 1999-2010 on behalf of the UK Government for sound science and adherence to guidance which included extensive detailed air quality monitoring and dispersion modelling assessment.
• Development of clear and concise protocols for official feedback and conflict resolution.
• Provision of data for national reporting purposes, through the development and population of bespoke database, for example, Air Quality Management Area statistics.
• Support in answering UK Parliamentary Questions.

Please email Professor James Longhurst at James.Longhurst@uwe.ac.uk for more details.