Royston Smith Conservative, Southampton, Itchen

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to reduce air pollution in Southampton.
 
    (Citation: HC Deb, 5 November 2019, cW)
 

 Rebecca Pow The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

On 19 March 2019, Southampton City Council was directed to implement a plan for

NO2 compliance as part of the UK plan for tackling roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations 2017.

Under this direction, the local authority was directed to implement a number of measures to ensure compliance with the legal limit value for NO2, in the shortest possible time. These include:

    A taxi licensing condition to require a minimum euro 6 diesel/euro 4 petrol for newly licensed vehicles by 2023

    An expansion of the low emission taxi incentive for Southampton licensed taxis

    Electric vehicle charge points

    Ultra Low Emission Vehicle taxis trials for Southampton licenced taxis

    A bus lane restriction for non-Southampton vehicles

    A city centre euro 6 bus traffic condition

    A behavioural change campaign to promote active and sustainable travel

    Freight consolidation centre for Heavy Goods Vehicles operators in Southampton

The Government has provided funding to Southampton of over £1.4 million to support the introduction of these measures.

Our officials have ongoing engagement with Southampton to monitor implementation of these measures and their impact.