Agenda item

To consider a report of the Corporate Director for Place Management & Regeneration

The report sets out the progress that has been made following the Government’s response to Greater Manchester’s Outline Business Case to tackle Nitrogen Dioxide Exceedances at the Roadside, and the implications for the 10 Greater Manchester local authorities in relation to the schedule of work and statutory consultation on the Clean Air Plan.

(NOTE: This report contains two appendices which have been circulated to members of the Scrutiny Committee only).

The Scrutiny Committee is recommended to comment on and note the report.

Officer contact: Mark Glynn on 0161-474-3700 or email: mark.glynn@stockport.gov.uk or Sue Stevenson on 0161-474-4351 or email: sue.stevenson@stockport.gov.uk

The Corporate Director for Place Management & Regeneration submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) setting out the progress that had been made following the Government’s response to Greater Manchester’s Outline Business Case to tackle Nitrogen Dioxide Exceedances at the Roadside, and the implications for the 10 Greater Manchester local authorities in relation to the schedule of work and statutory consultation on the Clean Air Plan.

The Cabinet Member for Sustainable Stockport (Councillor Sheila Bailey) attended the meeting to respond to councillors’ questions.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:-

·         It was queried how much of the initial tranche of £36 million that had been allocated towards developing the implementation and contract arrangements of a charging Clean Air Zone in Greater Manchester had been allocated for Stockport.  It was also queried how this initial development work could take place as no decision had yet been taken on the number of cameras that would be required to enforce the Zone, and how the oversight of this expenditure would be monitored.  In response, it was stated that there were no imminent plans to sign off any expenditure, however the proposed delegation arrangements were such that officers could only exercise those functions following consultation with relevant Cabinet members.

·         Details of the robustness of the various Funds available that aimed to provide financial support for the upgrade of light and heavy goods vehicles, buses and taxis would be circulated to members of the Scrutiny Committee along with details of the funds that had been made available by other local authorities.

·         There was a need to increase residential development in areas near to public transport corridors, however these were often the areas with the poorest air quality.

·         There remained a focus on goods vehicles within the Clean Air Plan, while it needed to be acknowledged that the biggest contributor to poor air quality was from private cars.

·         It was important that the government was advised that this authority strongly objected to the exclusion of Highways England from the scope of the ministerial directive on air quality.

·         Work was taking place to improve signage around schools to discourage engine-idling.  It was stated that while there was legislation in place to allow local authorities to impose fixed penalty notices for engine-idling, it was currently very difficult to enforce.

·         The impact of air traffic was also excluded from the scope of the ministerial directive on air quality, and it was noted that the flight path for Manchester Airport was directly above Stockport town centre.  It was also noted that 40,000 jobs in Stockport and the wider conurbation were reliant on the airport.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.