Part of 3. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 3:27 pm on 11 December 2018.
Diolch. Can I thank the Member for her question? It's important that—. It's absolutely correct that this isn't just about meeting legal compliance, because it's the right thing to do to tackle poor air quality and the implications it has for people's health and well-being throughout Wales.
In terms of local authorities, I would expect all local authorities to assess the potential for what action is required to achieve reduced pollution levels and improvement in public health, and also, working with schools through the eco-schools project, to develop their own campaigns with the children and to achieve that behaviour change in the local community as well. But, obviously, there's action we're taking at Welsh Government level, which includes our clean air programme, our clean air plan and the establishment of the programme across Government.
I have been clear from the outset that this is a high priority for this Government and that we want to take action now because we know it's an immediate threat, which is why we are taking those actions that we can within the time frame that we have and the pressures on us. But, equally, I've been clear that if we take these—the clean air programme, the clean air plan, supporting local authorities to implement clean air zones and take local action—if we identify that there are gaps and we do need to legislate further, then that's certainly something that can be considered in the future.