Agenda item

To consider a report from the Head of Scrutiny and Member Development, introducing a range of information relevant to the Board’s inquiry. (To follow)

The Head of Scrutiny and Member Development submitted a report confirming that Air Quality had been identified as a specific area for more detailed consideration during 2015/16.  The report confirmed that as part of the initial guidance in scoping the Board’s inquiry, the following matters were identified as possible considerations (along with supporting data, where appropriate):

·  Air quality across the City, including particular hot spots

·  How Leeds compares to other areas – West Yorkshire; Core Cities; Other comparator groups

·  Impact of poor air quality on the City – health, environmental, financial etc.  

·  Details of main causes of poor air quality

·  How to improve air quality – including a cost / benefit analysis of the improvement actions

·  A summary of air quality legislation – what responsibilities the Council has; any enforcement powers available and if/how these are used.

·  Details of any guidance/ good practice (e.g. NICE guidance) and how the Council performs against the guidance.

Appended to the report was the Executive Board report due to be considered at the meeting on 21 October 2015.

The following representatives were in attendance for the discussion:

·  Polly Cook (Executive Programme Manager) – Projects, Programmes, & Procurement Unit, Leeds City Council

·  Andrew Hall (Head of Transportation) – City Development, Leeds City Council

·  Cllr Mulherin (Executive Board Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adults)

·  Ian Cameron (Director of Public Health) – Public Health, Leeds City Council

The Executive Programme Manager and Head of Transportation addressed the Scrutiny Board and provided the context and background to the Executive Board report due to be considered the following day.

The Director of Public Health confirmed the Executive Board report was a joint report and included details of the associated health impacts of poor air quality.  Air quality remained a significant issue for the Council and it represented another health inequality issue across the City.

The Executive Board Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adults outlined some key areas of work across the Council to help address air quality issues, including creating the infrastructure to encourage walking and cycling and ensure health considerations have a better connection to future developments.

The Chair addressed the Board and made the following comments:

·  The issue was not purely a city-centre issue and it was important to look across the whole of the City.

·  It was important to recognise that air quality in areas of Leeds was not sufficiently good and that was not a satisfactory position.

·  To make improvements, action needed to be taken and while some actions may not be easy; some steps would be easier on the way to improvement.

·  Referencing the banning of smoking in public places, it should be recognised that the ‘impossible’ can become ‘possible’.

The Chair then opened the matter for broader consideration and questions from members of the Scrutiny Board.  A number of comments were made during the discussion with those present at the meeting, including:

·  Welcoming the thrust and ambitions of the Council’s efforts and joint work with the Combined Authority, but recognising the resources needed to achieve many of the aims and objectives were subject to successful bids to Government.

·  Partnership working with some partners appeared better developed then with others.

·  The role of trade associations, such as the Road Haulage Association bus companies and Taxi and Hackney Carriage associations.

·  The role of school travel plans in helping to address issues of poor air quality.

·  The need to improve the rigor by which development proposals are assessed in terms of impacts.

·   Improvements needed to air quality monitoring to map impacts across the City.

·  DEFRA appeared to be encouraging funding bids from Leeds in order to help address the predicted level of non-compliance with air quality standards.

·  The need to balance the impacts between developing brownfield site and greenbelt areas of the City.

·  While recognising the need to plan for future improvements, it should be recognised that some improvement is needed immediately and strong leadership was needed.

Following conclusion of the discussion, the Chair invited the Principal Scrutiny Adviser to outline some proposed next steps, which included:

·  Reviewing the information presented and identifying any additional or supplementary details that may be required. 

·  Seeking the input from other witnesses or stakeholder identified at the meeting, such as the Road Haulage Association, the Combined Authority and others.

At the conclusion of the discussion, the Chair thanked those present for their contribution to the meeting. 

RESOLVED –

To note the information presented to the meeting and agree the next steps outlined at the meeting. 

NB Following conclusion of the discussion on the item, Cllr P Grahame and Cllr A Hussain left the meeting. 

The meeting was then adjourned at 3:55pm and recommenced at 4:05pm