Agenda item

The draft Air Quality Action Plan 2023 – 27 report and appendices are enclosed.

The cabinet lead and following officers will attend to present and take questions:

•  Councillor Catherine Rose Cabinet Member for Leisure, Parks, Streets & Clean Air

•  Anju Sidhu Head of Service for Regulatory Services, Environment and Social Regeneration

•  Paul Newman, Team Leader- Environmental Protection Team, Environment and Leisure

•  Elaine McLester, Head of Procurement, Finance and Governance

A report tracking previous Sustainable Freight recommendations arising from Air Quality scrutiny reviews conducted in 2020 and 2021 is enclosed.

The chair introduced the item by explaining that firstly taking the draft Air Quality Action Plan provided an opportunity for the Commission to do some pre-scrutiny of this major piece of work, prior to adoption by Cabinet in December. Secondly the Draft Air Quality Plan includes a number of themes, priorities and actions that can positively impact on delivering Sustainable Freight, one of the commissions current reviews.

Members attention was drawn to a report tracking previous Sustainable Freight recommendations arising from Air Quality scrutiny reviews conducted in 2020 and 2021.

The following officers attended to present and take questions:

•  Anju Sidhu Head of Service for Regulatory Services, Environment and Social Regeneration

•  Paul Newman, Team Leader- Environmental Protection Team, Environment and Leisure

•  Elaine McLester, Head of Procurement, Finance and Governance (virtually)

The chiar invited questions and the following points were made:

·  Camberwell is air quality focus area

·  The south circular road to has had air quality measurements taken before and after the implementation of ULEZ .

·  There are no plans to expand the three air quality monitoring stations, but the low cost Breath London stations provide complimentary but different data .

·  In response to a member question on engaging hard to reach groups officers said the  consultation had a limited budget and was mainly conducted online, as it did not have the resources to do the targeted engagement that took place on the climate change strategy. The feedback from residents included a request to  provide a summary version that was easier to understand. Respondents  also called for more committed language – for example rather then ‘explore’,  instead ‘do’.

·  Officers confirmed that there is a synergy with the expanded consultation on Low Traffic Neighbours, with officers contacting the people engaged through this process, sending out - about 7,000 emails. There were two particular cohorts who responded – residents engaged with the Walworth low emission scheme and the Dulwich Low Traffic Neighbourhood. There was always less than a third opposed and in Walworth residents supported by about 80%.

·  An initiative was conducted on Tower Bridge approach road to see if better signage could impact on idling. This is difficult to measure as the bridge rarely opens and near a wide river allowing for dispersal, however there were observed behaviour change. Following this study it was decided that some of the most important places to do anti idling projects are outside schools. There are enforcement actions to compliment improved signage,  with a request to stop the engine, followed by fine if the verbal request is refused, which has proved effective.

·  Officer are currently involved in the ‘Worth the Weight: Making London’s deliveries greener and smarter’  study in the Old Kent Road. This is looking at moving freight onto the river, a logistics hub in Dartford,  bringing in goods by electric vehicle and exploring bookable loading bays to reduce people circling looking for parking.

·  The targets interact  with other plans including Climate Strategy action plan and commitments.

·  Officers agreed that particulate emissions from brake and tyres are considerable and greater in volume, however they added that tailpipes emission can be acidic and worse for lung damage. Much more could be done on particulates and road dust and Southwark are doing work with Lambeth looking at road dust, and there is room to do further work with GLA.  Officer said this is somewhat beyond the scope of the council and Southwark’s draft Air Quality Action Plan but the council could lobby for more research from places like Imperial College to support further action.