I now move to the short debate and I call on Dai Lloyd to speak on the topic he has chosen. Dai Lloyd. 

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. The title is: air quality legislation fit for modern challenges. Now, I'm not sure whether I have ever mentioned before that I have been a doctor in Swansea for 35 years or so, with the challenges of lung health and heart health amongst the most common conditions that I continually deal with. The rates of asthma have been increasing in our children for decades, and there is no valid explanation, only the rates of air pollution that some children have to breathe regularly. And these small particles, the PM10 and PM2.5 particles, which come from diesel and petrol fumes, as well as the tyres of the vehicles distributing small grains of rubber and plastics to the air, and the nitrogen dioxide—that poisonous gas that comes from the burning of diesel—are all being breathed into the lungs. And some of these particles are so small—nano-particles, as they're called—that they not only reach the smallest tubes in our lungs, but can go immediately into the blood flow too and reach our hearts directly and cause a response in the muscle in the wall of the heart. Therefore, that is why this is a crisis—a crisis that has become more and more critical recently.

Air pollution is, therefore, a public health crisis. Across Wales’s towns and cities, people are breathing in levels of pollution that are harmful to their health.  Three cities in Wales—Cardiff, Newport and Swansea—reported unsafe levels of air pollution last year. Port Talbot, also in Bethan's and my region, suffers with poor air quality and has done for years. Public Health Wales have designated air pollution as a public health crisis, second only to smoking.

Recent figures show that, every year, more than 2,000 lives are cut short in Wales as a result of poor air quality. It is nothing short of a national scandal. Now, as Chair of the cross-party group on a clean air Act for Wales, the purpose of today’s short debate is to make the case for a new clean air Act and the need to create a robust legal framework that sets out ambitious approaches to improving air quality in Wales.

Now, just 60 years ago, towns and cities across the UK would be regularly smothered by smoke from coal fires burning in homes and factories. The Great Smog of 1952 infamously brought London to a halt and caused thousands of deaths in the weeks and years that followed. Annually, air pollution affects the daily life of thousands of people who have no choice but to breathe dirty air. Illegal and harmful levels of air pollution are found not only in London and Welsh cities, but also in towns like Llandeilo and Chepstow. Just because we no longer have the pea-soupers and the dense smog of Bible-black Black's Law does not mean that the air is clean.

Air pollution affects everyone, from the womb to old age. It triggers strokes, heart attacks and asthma attacks, increasing the risk of hospitalisation and death, and causes cancer. It is linked to premature births and stunted lung growth in children.

In the 1950s, when there was a lot of smog, the problem used to be that particles were big and stuck in the upper airways. Now, these nanoparticles go straight past, deep into the lungs, and even into the bloodstream, as I mentioned earlier—directly into our bloodstream. People with heart failure are a vulnerable group, and when the air quality falls, more of them are admitted to hospital. We have a clear link between air pollution levels and heart attacks, and studies have shown that particulate matter in the air is a major cause of this. We know that the health risk from breathing pollutants continues long after exposure. There is also increasing evidence that it impacts on the lungs of unborn children—even the unborn are affected by the pollution breathed in by their expectant mothers. That could scar your health throughout your life.

So, why a clean air Act? Only last week, UNICEF UK’s report 'Healthy Air for Every Child' showed that 70 per cent of UK towns and cities have levels of particulate matter pollution that exceeds World Health Organization safe limits. And across 86 per cent of the United Kingdom, nitrogen dioxide concentrations are illegally high today.  The EU limits, which are observed by UK Government and Welsh Government, are the same as the World Health Organisztion's recommended upper guideline limits for nitrogen dioxide, but are less stringent than the World Health Organisztion's threshold for other health-harmful pollutants, such as the fine particulate matter, the PM2.5s.

Now, UNICEF has said unequivocally that it is essential that Ministers include legally binding targets to meet World Health Organization air quality standards—that's the basis of this debate. We know that the current legal framework is a patchwork of different laws and devolved competencies. Many of the potential levers to improve air quality already exist, but are not used effectively because of split responsibilities between pollution sources and environmental health, both at local government and national levels. A new clean air Act for Wales would consolidate existing legislation and clarify the roles and responsibilities of Welsh Government and local government. It also gives us the opportunity to introduce more ambitious laws that are fit for the twenty-first century and that reflect the specific challenges facing Wales.

We know there is considerable public support for a new clean air Act. The Welsh Labour Government has previously rejected calls for a clean air Act, but during the Labour Party leadership contest in Wales the First Minister Mark Drakeford committed in his manifesto to, I quote: 

'Develop a new Clean Air Act to ensure that our children can go to school, be active and play outside safely without fear of respiratory problems, such as asthma, because of pollution levels in some of our towns and cities.'

Unquote. Leaders and mayors of cities across the UK have shown their support for legislation in this area, including Cardiff council’s leader. Healthy Air Cymru have also done a phenomenal job in bringing this issue towards the top of the political agenda. And, let's not forget, the Tory UK Government and Labour Welsh Government have been taken to court for not doing enough to tackle air pollution, and been found guilty, and we cannot let this go on any longer.

So, what would a clean air Act look like? As well as enshrining World Health Organization air quality guidelines into Welsh law, a clean air Act could also mandate the Welsh Government to produce a statutory air quality strategy every five years. It could provide a statutory duty on local authorities to appropriately monitor and assess air pollution and take action against it. It could introduce a 'right to breathe', whereby local authorities are obliged to inform vulnerable groups when certain levels are breached. This should be delivered through a comprehensive cross-governmental air quality strategy that includes provision for an independent monitoring and assessment network; a national advisory board on air quality, chaired by the Minister for the Environment; the introduction of clean air zones in our cities; a requirement on local authorities in conjunction with local health boards and public services boards to prepare a clean air plan, based on data from the independent monitoring and assessment network, with adequate control measures identified and acted upon; a requirement that every local authority develops a walking and cycling strategy with targets to decrease the percentage of journeys by private car.

Now, South Wales West is particularly affected by air pollution, as well as the city of Swansea, because of its geography being in a bowl, with ozone levels, so Swansea has got particular pollution levels. It regularly suffers air quality issues. We also have, obviously, the industrial area of Port Talbot with its unique challenges as well.

Now, many years ago, we were willing as a society to suffer water that wasn’t clean. We still do in many parts of the world suffer water that isn't clean. Now, you wouldn’t suggest any situation where we should put up with water full of impurities today, but in Swansea and Port Talbot we are putting up with air that is full of impurities. We need a major change of attitude and national leadership from Government. We know that there's a real link with poverty, because there are five times more carcinogenic emissions emitted in the 10 per cent most deprived wards in Wales than the 10 per cent least deprived areas of Wales, as the wealthiest people may well afford to live in areas that have trees and parks, whereas the less well-off congregate in housing that directly faces onto the street where there's no barrier between you and the pollution emitted by cars.

So, what about solutions to support a clean air Act? I'm trying to help Government out here. Plaid Cymru wants the sale of diesel and petrol cars to be phased out by 2030. Follow Copenhagen and cities and countries in western Europe that are implementing bans—bans on sale and bans on fossil-fuel-only cars entering cities. Public transport: we need to make sure that we have a proper integrated transport system in Wales. In areas such as Port Talbot and Swansea, there is much further to go on this front. We hear of bus subsidies being slashed locally, fares going up, services slashed—is it any wonder that people are using their cars and adding to the poor air quality? We need to set targets for lower emission vehicles—taxis, as they’re doing in London, buses, council refuse lorries and other public service vehicles—and a clean air Act could help deliver that. Set targets for lower emission vehicles.

We could set a default 20 mph speed limit as a national policy, right across Wales, which would then be the starting point for local authorities. They could exempt certain roads from that blanket policy for valid and particular reasons, but 20 mph would be the starting point. That would help create more cycle- and walking-friendly urban environments that would facilitate people feeling safe and secure to cycle from their homes and connect up with a new cycle network under the Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013. There is a whole array of actions that can be taken, underpinned by law.

So, in conclusion, I would like to thank Healthy Air Cymru, first of all. That's a collaborative group of organisations. We've met with them individually and as a cross-party group now on the clean air Act, and the members of that organisation, Healthy Air Cymru, are the British Heart Foundation, British Lung Foundation Cymru, Friends of the Earth Cymru, Living Streets Cymru, the Royal College of Physicians and Sustrans Cymru. I thank them all for their fantastic work and for informing this debate, but primarily for the fantastic work that they do in this field. Now, they're all doing their part—what we need now is action from the Welsh Government. The morbidity and mortality figures demand urgent action: 2,000 unnecessary deaths in Wales per year. That is dramatic, and it needs countering. This is a major public health crisis, and a cavalier attitude to air pollution has persisted for far too long in this country, and must be consigned to the past. Diolch yn fawr.

Thank you. I now call on the Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government to reply to that debate—Hannah Blythyn.

Diolch, Deputy Llywydd. This Government is acutely aware of the pressing need to tackle air pollution, both for current and for future generations. We've committed to delivering vital improvements in air quality to support healthier communities and better environments. So, I do welcome this debate on air quality legislation today, and I know and welcome the Member's ongoing interest and passion for this area, where I believe there's a great deal of consensus in this Chamber now. We know it's going to take a collective effort to get to where we need to be. As well as the action that Government can take, it also involves us all taking our own individual action in terms of our own behavioural change as well. I welcome the opportunity to be able to update on the work of this Government and what we're doing as a cross-Government priority as what I am today—unfortunately, the understudy for the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs.

Air quality management as a whole is framed within a comprehensive legislative and regulatory framework. National improvements to date have been largely driven by European directives. For example, as the Member alludes to, in November last year we published our Welsh supplement to the UK plan for tackling roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations in Wales to satisfy the requirements of the European directive on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe. The plan sets out local authority and Welsh Government actions being taken to reduce concentrations of nitrogen dioxide around roads where levels are above legal limits in Wales, which is our most pressing and immediate air quality challenge. A significant amount of work has gone into the development of this plan, and will continue throughout its implementation. In addition, we've been working with the UK Government and other devolved administrations on future emission reductions required under the national emissions ceilings directive for five important air pollutants. These are nitrogen oxide, non-methane volatile organic compounds, sulphur dioxide, ammonia and fine particulate matter. We know that these pollutants contribute to poor air quality, leading to significant negative impacts on both human health and our environment.

The UK currently meets all EU and international emission reduction commitments. The Welsh Government will set out its plans to help achieve the UK's future emissions reduction commitments within the UK national air pollution control programme, which we will consult on shortly and publish before April this year. Cross-Government action is needed and is being taken across all Welsh Government departments and sectors to deliver air quality improvements. To address this we established the clean air programme last year, and the aim of this programme is to protect public health and our natural environment. The programme also places a focus on compliance with European and domestic legislative obligations. Under the programme, we have established projects that pull together departments and key stakeholders to deliver improvements in air quality across Wales. These include transport, improved evidence, domestic combustion, industry, planning and communications.

European directives tackle air pollution in a number of ways, including limits for outdoor air quality, limiting emissions at source, and driving down trans-boundary emissions through international action. Our emissions reductions, to be met from 2030 onwards, will support the reduction of health impacts of air pollution by half compared with 2005.

Going forward, we must maintain our commitment to deliver action to comply with our statutory obligations, but we're clear that this is not just about taking action to tick boxes—this is taking action because we know we need to do it for the benefit of our citizens and for their health. This can be achieved in a number of ways, including through improved policy integration and collaboration. Many targets, including some World Health Organization air quality guidelines, are not safe levels but are thresholds to limit individual risk. So, we are looking at all potential options to reduce exposure of the population to air pollution in the most effective way, including the potential effect of WHO standards. 

Any future policies or targets need to be underpinned by evidence to ensure that they deliver the most effective change. This includes assessing the associated practicalities, such as the social, economic and technical impacts. We need to gather evidence to make sure we are targeting the right areas in the right way. The Member almost precipitated some of my lines by referring to the First Minister's manifesto. Indeed, there was a manifesto commitment to improve air quality through the development of a clean air Act for Wales. This is something that I welcome, and work on the clean air programme that we're doing now already may identify gaps and opportunities where new legislation will be required to reduce air pollution. That is something that's on the table and we'll address going forward. But it's also important that we recognise, as we said, that we need to take action now, and we do already have some extensive legislative powers and tools at our disposal that allow us to do that. These include planning, infrastructure and communication measures, amongst others.

Assessment of air quality and associated environmental risks occurs at a number of levels. Local authorities are responsible for managing air pollution in their areas as part of the local air quality management regime, established under Part IV of the Environment Act 1995. We have issued extensive statutory guidance setting out what is expected of local authorities in fulfilling their local air quality management duties. Our guidance states that local authorities must take a risk-based approach to the assessment of local air quality. This focuses monitoring on the locations where members of the public are more likely to be exposed to excessive levels of air pollution, such as schools, hospitals and nurseries, among others, known as sensitive-receptor locations.

National and local monitoring and modelling were established for different purposes. In order to develop an improved understanding of air quality across Wales, we are working with both local and UK partners to understand how local data can be better integrated with national data. We're also working with Public Health Wales to develop more local evidence, where it is needed, to complement existing evidence on airborne pollution.  

Last year, a pilot project to test a new public health-driven approach to air pollution risk assessment was completed in the Cwm Taf health board area. A paper has been drafted to summarise and promote the work amongst stakeholders, and this will aid us in developing a public health-driven approach to enhance local air quality management risk assessment in Wales.

Welsh Government is taking a broad range of actions to tackle transport emissions across the whole of Wales. Many will support air quality improvements and the decarbonisation of transport. This includes encouraging modal shift. All of us must become less reliant on the private car and move towards more sustainable models of transport, such as walking, cycling and public transport. I wonder how many people in this Chamber and in this building today got here by car. But, as the Member said, this is why we need to work across Government with all the levers that are at our disposal, because, while this is a health and environmental issue, many of the things that will achieve that change rely on transport, which is why the emphasis on working across Government is so important to make sure that those alternatives are there for people.

This Welsh Government has invested over £60 million over three years from 2018 to create active travel routes across Wales to support safer, healthier and more attractive options for citizens. We also have a bold ambition to reduce the carbon footprint of buses and taxis in Wales to zero by 2028. This action supports improvements to air quality in our towns and cities, and shows leadership in the drive to low carbon and low emission transport.

This spring, we'll publish the clean air zone framework for Wales. Any local authority in Wales may introduce a clean air zone in order to address local air quality issues, and clean air zones have the potential to bring about real improvements in air quality by encouraging behaviour change and raising awareness of air pollution.

In December last year, we published 'Planning Policy Wales', which has been completely rewritten in light of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. Air quality is embedded throughout 'Planning Policy Wales' edition 10, in addition to a dedicated section on air quality and soundscape. This is to ensure air quality is considered early on in the planning process, rather than a merely technical consideration, almost as an add-on, and to be central rather than a supplementary at the end of the process. Further support in technical guidance on noise and air quality will be published within the next two years.

Work on domestic combustion policy is an integral part of the clean air programme. This month, Welsh Government held the first meeting of a task and finish group made up of representatives from industry, health, DEFRA and local authorities to support and oversee the delivery of future domestic combustion policy in Wales. As you've already heard today, a multi-faceted and holistic approach is required, which looks at fuels, appliances, maintenance, legislation and behaviour changes, amongst other things, to fully address the air quality issues, given the scale of the problem. All manner of intervention will be considered as part of this work, including prohibiting the sale or quantity of some solid fuels, and banning their use where it is deemed necessary.

In March, the first meeting of the cross-governmental communications behaviour change group will take place. This work is vital to improving air quality across Wales. Whilst we develop policies to tackle air quality at Government level, we need to raise awareness of air pollution at an individual and community level too. It's important that we encourage everybody to ask, 'What can I do to take action to reduce our emissions?' The communications group will be working with external stakeholders to develop air quality education and communications messaging to inform the Welsh public of the actions we can take to tackle air pollution together.

The Member also referred to the complex issues that we face within the Port Talbot area, with the combination of factors there. You will be aware that the Minister for Economy and Transport and I, in my previous role, met with Tata Steel, Neath Port Talbot council and Natural Resources Wales at the end of last year to reaffirm this Government's commitment to making continuous air quality improvements in Port Talbot. Over the next 12 months, the Welsh Government will be undertaking work to improve and better understand the issues in the area, and this includes a review and update of the Port Talbot air quality action plan to ensure we have fit-for-purpose governance arrangements in the area and remedial actions needed are targeted effectively. This work will be informed by the outcome of a peer review from the University of the West of England, which is due imminently.

In addition, the Welsh Government is taking action to address exceedances of legal limits for nitrogen dioxide, in as soon a time as possible, on the M4 between junctions 41 and 42 at Port Talbot. Measures being taken are highlighted in our plan to tackle roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations in Wales. To bring all this together, we'll publish the clean air plan later this year. This plan will set out key pollutants and their effects on public health and the natural environment in Wales. It will include measures to achieve compliance with legislative requirements, identify cross-Government and sectoral actions required to achieve air quality improvements, and set up communication, engagement and education measures to encourage behavioural change to support a reduction in air pollution. 

A key role of this work will be to engage with children and young people to develop the plan to aid us in developing a strategy that promotes the well-being of current and future generations, because we know taking action is key to their future and they have a key part to play in realising our ambitions to tackle air quality and also to raise awareness amongst their peers. We've seen in the Young Dragons programme a number of primary schools across Wales taking part in monitoring and developing their own behaviour change campaigns, which could include walking buses, scooting to school and no idling measures outside the school grounds. I look forward to a nine-year-old knocking on somebody's window telling them to turn off their engine. 

In closing, I'd just like to reiterate this Government's commitment to action now and in the future to ensure we have the sustained improvements that we know we need in air quality health and well-being. 

Thank you very much, and that brings today's proceedings to a close. Thank you. 

The meeting ended at 19:03.