At least two Whitehall departments have admitted ignoring a Supreme Court ruling on clean air which sparks fears that the UK Government is weakening its commitment to the environment.
Just over a week before the election, the Supreme Court ruled that the new Government must carry out rigorous assessments on the impact of policy decisions on air quality in order to tackle air pollution which causes 29,000 deaths in the UK each year.
The Supreme Court stated on 29 April that "the new Government, whatever its political complexion, should be left in no doubt as to the need for immediate action to address this issue."
However, it has been revealed that the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) have failed to take the court ruling's into account when drawing up policies and legislation.
Shortly after the election the DfT announced the “pause” of the electrification of two major rail routes, meaning that diesel trains will continue to run on routes in and out of major cities like Leeds and Manchester. However, prior to this announcement the DfT made no assessment of air quality.
Additionally, the Government also quietly scrapped funding for the Green Deal Finance Company (GDFC) which enables people to make their homes more energy efficient. In a letter to ClientEarth, DECC said it had "not carried out any assessment on the impact on air quality of the decision not to invest further in the GDFC."
Alan Andrews, a lawyer at ClientEarth, said: "This reveals a worrying disregard for the decision of the Supreme Court and a shocking lack of joined-up thinking in government."
