£10.7 million in funding for local authorities to improve air quality

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has announced that councils in England have been granted almost £11 million in the latest round of government funding for projects that will improve air quality.

The money, from the government’s annual Air Quality Grant, helps councils develop and implement measures to benefit schools, businesses and communities and reduce the impact of air pollution on people’s health.

Local authorities across England have been granted almost £11 million in the latest round of funding for projects that will improve air quality.

This year’s grants total £10.7 million, with funding supporting programmes that will educate doctors, nurses and social care workers about air quality; electrify a diesel refuse collection vehicle and procure an electric road sweeper in Blaby, Leicestershire; and roll out monitoring sensors to make real-time air quality information available to the public in Lewisham, south London

On Tyneside, a long-term campaign aimed at schools and pollution hotspots in residential areas will educate people of all ages about the dangers of air pollution, whilst an Air Quality Officer will be employed in Cornwall to visit schools.

Funding will also support an e-cargo bike library, helping local businesses in Norfolk to cut operating costs while lowering their emissions; and the implementation of a river freight scheme in Westminster which will serve as a greener alternative to the use of more polluting vehicles in the city.