Clearways: Helping councils make decisions on air quality and transport

What we did

Between April and August 2021, our researchers interviewed staff from seven local authorities (LAs) in the south-west of England. The LAs had a mix of populations, were of different sizes and covered a range of urban, semi-urban and rural areas. The staff members we interviewed worked within the public health, environmental health and transport teams.

What we found and what this means

The staff we interviewed saw air quality as an issue affecting multiple departments within a local council. For example, environmental health teams monitored air quality and planned future actions, but transport teams were often best placed to implement measures that would bring about change.

Staff from the public health team were responsible for widening the scope of air quality issues beyond regulatory compliance, although they didn’t usually lead on air quality work. Their role tended to involve advocating for how health should be considered and providing input on air quality improvement initiatives.

When addressing air quality issues, staff found the following resources helpful:

• National and local policies for improving air quality
• Air quality groups, bringing together key people from different areas of the council
• Other groups within councils that could raise air quality issues, for example, using forums such as health protection groups, health and wellbeing boards and political committees
• Time and resources for staff to build and maintain good working relationships with other parts of the council

We found that the above mechanisms helped environmental health staff implement measures aimed at complying with pollution limits. They also helped public health staff get issues of air quality to be seen as a wider health issue.