The UK Government have had their plans to tackle air pollution slammed and deemed unlawful for the third time.
The need to improve air pollution goes beyond legislative burden, with an estimated 40,000 people a year dying from air pollution-related illness.
The ruling was met with a defensive statement from the spokesperson for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), who said: “The judge found that our modelling [of air pollution] is compliant [with regulations] and that our approach to areas with major air quality problems is ‘sensible, rational and lawful."
Furthermore, the spokesperson expanded that: "The court has also asked us to go further in areas with less severe air quality problems. We had previously considered that it was sufficient to take a pragmatic, less formal approach to such areas. However, in view of the court’s judgment, we are happy to take a more formal line with them. We have already delivered significant improvements in air quality since 2010 and we will continue to implement our £3.5 billion air quality plan.”
This is the third time that activist legal teams have won a legal judgment against the government on the issue, and it will force urgent changes to policy on air quality. As a result of the ruling, if ministers fail to remedy the situation, lawyers have “exceptional” leave to bring a judicial review without seeking further permission.
Effectively, this means the courts will have the powers to pass judgment on whether the government’s actions meet its obligations on air pollution under UK and EU law.
Clean air zones are being implemented with campaigners insisting they be introduced across more cities, quickly.
Mary Creagh, chair of the environmental audit committee in the House of Commons, said: "Millions of people in the UK live with illegally high levels of air pollution. Ministers’ shambolic attempts to tackle this means this is the third time the courts have ordered the government to come up with a new plan. The government must now use every tool in the box to clean up our choking cities."
