Part of 3. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 3:26 pm on 11 December 2018.
Thank you. I'm grateful to you, Minister, for your answer. You will be aware that air pollution contributes to about 2,000 deaths per year in Wales and has been described by Public Health Wales as an urgent public health crisis. Is the Welsh Government prepared to act to ensure that councils introduce clean air zones if local action isn't adequate or isn't timely enough in your view? And will the Government reconsider the possibility of the introduction of a clean air Act for Wales if these local clean air zones don't deliver the outcomes that we are hoping for? These are 2,000 deaths that are entirely avoidable, and I strongly support the approach of looking for local action first, but, in the end, there are some things that are so important that it needs national legislation.