The following amendments have been selected: amendment 1 in the name of Rebecca Evans, and amendment 2 in the name of Rhun ap Iorwerth. If amendment 1 is agreed, amendment 2 will be deselected.

We now move to item 9, which is the Welsh Conservatives debate on air quality, and I call on Angela Burns to move the motion.

Motion NDM7133 Darren Millar

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:

1. Notes that Wales has some of the worst air quality in the UK and that some areas have breached EU regulations for several years, culminating in the Welsh Government being taken to court for its lack of action.

2. Regrets that around 2,000 people die early each year (6 per cent of all deaths in Wales) as a result of poor air quality.

3. Further notes that air pollution exacerbates existing lung conditions and is a cause of asthma and lung cancer, and that long-term impacts of poor air quality are not yet fully understood.

4. Calls on this Assembly to pass and enact a clean air bill in this Assembly term before the next Assembly elections. 

5. Believes that the act should:

a) enshrine in law World Health Organisation air quality guidelines; 

b) mandate the Welsh Government to produce a statutory air quality strategy every five years; 

c) provide a statutory duty on local authorities to appropriately monitor and assess air pollution, and take action against it; 

d) introduce a ‘right to breathe’ whereby local authorities are obliged to inform vulnerable groups when certain levels breach recommended guidance. 

Motion moved.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm delighted to move the motion tabled in the name of Darren Millar. During the debate today the Welsh Conservatives will demonstrate that not only does Wales currently have the worst air quality in the UK—a damning statistic in itself—but it's further compounded by the awful reality that 6 per cent of deaths annually in Wales are as a result of poor air quality and the impact that poor air quality has on asthma, lung conditions and heart and circulatory conditions. And this is why it's vital for the Assembly to prioritise bringing forward a clean air Bill before the end of the fifth assembly.

Breathing problems affect one in five of the population. Whilst charities and medical professionals are working hard to find new and innovative ways of treating and preventing respiratory diseases, they are fighting a battle against ever worsening air quality. A Public Health Wales report in 2014 estimated that over 13,500 life years were lost in Wales. What a tortured sentence that is. It's not actually people, but it's the amount of years that they could have lived if they hadn't had these awful diseases because of poor air quality. And 13,500 life years are an awful lot of life years. They also describe air pollution as second only to smoking as a public health priority. It is estimated that the cost to NHS Wales from health service costs and lost work days because of air pollution is over £1 billion per year. That's 11 per cent of the 2019-20 Welsh NHS budget.

An air pollutant is defined as any substance in the air that can harm people. Particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide are two pollutants. Particulate matter is a mix of solids and liquids, which includes carbon, sulphates, nitrates, mineral dust and water suspended in the air. The UK Government's air quality expert group states that half of particle pollution from road transport is made up from particles to do with brake wear, tyre and road surface degradation, which are enormous contributing factors. It is surprising that Wales has some of the worst air quality in the UK, considering our relatively low population density and our smaller cities. But, Cardiff and Port Talbot both have higher levels of some pollutants than Birmingham or Manchester, and part of Caerphilly is classed as the most polluted road in the UK outside of London.

This is down to us. The vast majority of air pollutants are man-made and the rising levels are a result of the choices that Governments and citizens make every day. We must accept our decisions—[Interruption.]

Thanks for giving way and I'm sorry to interrupt your opening remarks. How far do you think we should go as legislators and policy makers in recognising the challenge that she has said about individual citizens as well, in actually prescribing things such as active travel around schools, beyond simply providing routes, but actually saying, 'Parents will work with those schools to actually make sure that their children are going to school by walking or cycling or scooting, and not by cars'? Because the impact on children's health around schools is massive.

If my esteemed colleague would just hold on a few more moments, I will develop that a little bit more. But, what you have just said absolutely reinforces our call for a clean air Bill, because those are the kinds of discussions that we as an Assembly, within all our committees and taking appropriate evidence from people, could actually start to boil down—how far can we push it, where do we lead, what are the promises, what's the stick, where's the carrot, how does it work?

Because it is down to us. The vast majority of these pollutants are man-made and the rising levels are our choices. We must accept that our decisions, the ones we make when undertaking those car journeys or those foreign holidays or whatever, do have an impact on the quality of air that we breathe. I'm not advocating that we should legislate to reduce car usage, but I am saying we should all consider how we make use of our cars, and that means that public transport has to step up and we need to reduce our car usage and improve our public transport usage.

A simple solution, and here's one thing that we could put in our clean air Bill, would be to reduce the pollution in some of our cities and towns by encouraging local authorities to enforce current bye-laws around idling cars, by which I mean cars that are parked up and leave their engines running for an unreasonable period of time. We've all seen it, there's a range of people who do this kind of thing. We know it, we've probably done it ourselves. There's evidence that for every £1 invested in tackling this problem by a local authority, there is a return of over £4. I'd like to urge the Welsh Government to look at how this issue could be better addressed, because this would be a quick and simple win.   

The Welsh Government have often hidden behind the environmental arguments when it comes to their reluctance in going ahead with the M4 upgrade, but the counter argument conveniently ignored is that for several hours each day that motorway around Newport is blocked with vehicles stationary or travelling at very slow speeds—the same problem—pumping pollutants into the atmosphere. The Government also seems to think that investing in electric vehicle infrastructure will help solve the problem of emissions, but it doesn't address the whole issue. Whilst such vehicles do not produce the same levels of greenhouse gases, they still emit particle matter pollutants, and 45 per cent of those pollutants, as I said earlier, are from brake and tyre dust. What we need to focus on is fewer cars rather than newer cars. We need to be looking—you need to be looking—at how we get people off the road and expand those public transport networks.

The health risks associated with poor air quality are very well known. There is an exacerbation of existing cardiovascular diseases and an increased risk of asthma and lung cancer. Children, as I think Huw Irranca-Davies already mentioned, are particularly vulnerable. The effects of the pollution that they're taking in today will be seen into the future. They tend to breathe faster than adults and their lungs are still growing. Air pollution exposure during pregnancy is linked with low birth weight and premature birth. Children are smaller so they're often much lower and are therefore nearer. In their little pushchairs, they're being pushed up and down the pavements and they're breathing in all those exhaust fumes.

According to Asthma UK, the number of people dying from an asthma attack in 2018 increased by 8 per cent from the previous year. And 33 per cent—over a third—more people are dying since 2008 because of this. Furthermore, in the elderly population, poor air quality can have a detrimental effect on existing conditions. Chronic exposure to elevated levels of air pollution has been correlated to incidences of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic bronchitis, asthma and emphysema.

Pollutant-attributed mortality is significantly higher in urban areas compared to rural areas and there is a deprivation gradient, with the most deprived areas having the highest nitrogen dioxide concentrations and pollutant-attributed mortality. It is interesting and sad to note that, according to the British Lung Foundation's 'Toxic air at the door of the NHS' report in 2018, two Cardiff hospitals and more than half of the city's GP surgeries report particulate matter levels above the World Health Organization guidelines. Preventable deaths due to respiratory disease in the most deprived areas of Wales run at over 60 per cent in men and 66 per cent in women, compared to only 11 per cent in both the sexes if you happen to live in a nice leafy suburb or out in the country. A shocking statistic, wildly unfair and leads yet further to the inequalities in society.

It is not just respiratory conditions that air pollution has an effect on, but also circulatory conditions. British Heart Foundation research has found that even short-term inhalation of elevated concentrations of particulate matter increases the risk of a heart attack within the first 24 hours of exposure. Studies have also found that particulates in diesel exhausts exacerbate the disease atherosclerosis—gosh, it's my day for saying difficult words today, isn't it?—more commonly referred to as a build-up of fat around the arteries. Globally, it is estimated that 80 per of deaths attributed to air pollution are from cardiovascular disease.

Now, Minister, I have set out much of the background here as to why we urgently need to tackle poor air quality and just want to touch on what action we are going to ask you to take. As a party, we welcome the direction of travel the Welsh Government is going in when tackling air pollution and air quality, but we do call on you to go much further. In June 2019, the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs told the Chamber that clean air is central to our well-being, and I call on her to consider this statement when you consider our motion today.

The UK Conservative Government has set out an ambitious plan to reduce levels of particulate matter by 30 per cent next year and by 46 per cent by 2030, cutting the costs of air pollution to society by £5.3 billion every year from 2030. And our motion today calls on the Welsh Government to follow this lead. The UK Government's clean air strategy works in tandem with the clean growth strategy and the 25-year environmental plan creates a holistic approach to cleaning the UK's air and improving all of our health. But we think you've dragged your feet on sufficiently reducing emissions in Wales. Here, emissions increased by 5 per cent between 2015 and 2016 and, on average, between 2009 and 2016, by another 1.4 per cent per year, whilst throughout the UK emissions reduced by 5 per cent. We want this clean air Bill. We do think that we would like to have very clear ideas of what it could do. We do think that we could get to it by cohesive cross-party working together on a good Bill that would tackle this awful and very difficult problem.

I just want to very quickly turn to the amendments. We're delighted and very grateful for Plaid Cymru's amendment. We are supporting it. I do want to make one point, which is that we really need to encourage the manufacturers of the technology to keep pace with our political ambition, because we want to have these 2030 targets, but we need them to step up to the plate and really make it happen. And, as for the Government, I have to say that the Government amendment, a 'delete all', is so unhelpful for a discursive debate and it does go against the spirit of co-operation that we look to see on such an important global issue. I look forward to hearing everyone's contributions today to see how we can work together to deliver better, cleaner air for the people of Wales. 

Thank you. I have selected the two amendments to the motion. If amendment 1 is agreed, amendment 2 will be deselected. I call on the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs to move formally amendment 1, tabled in the name of Rebecca Evans. 

Amendment—Rebecca Evans

Delete all and replace with:

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:

Notes that unacceptable levels of air pollution persist in some areas of Wales, the UK and Europe.

Regrets that some estimates suggest long term exposure to poor air quality is a contributory factor in the death of as many as 36,000 people in the UK, and as many as 1,400 people in Wales.

Further notes that short term exposure to air pollution can exacerbate respiratory disease, that long term exposure increases morbidity and mortality risk from lung cancer and other conditions, and that we may expect other health impacts of poor air quality to be identified as the scientific understanding evolves.

Welcomes positive action by Welsh Government including the introduction of permanent 50mph speed limits, the delivery of the Clean Air Day campaign and the development of a Clean Air Plan for Wales.

Calls on the UK and Welsh governments to use all available legislative and non-legislative actions to improve air quality.

Amendment 1 moved.

Formally.

Thank you. I call on Llyr Gruffydd to move amendment 2, tabled in the name of Rhun ap Iorwerth. Llyr.

Amendment—Rhun ap Iorwerth

Insert as new sub-points in point 5:

require the gradual phase-out of the sale of diesel-only and petrol-only vehicles by 2030;

create clean air zones in towns and cities;

give communities the right to place pollution-monitoring equipment outside of schools and hospitals;

enable local authorities to introduce pollution and congestion charges;

set national and regional plans to reduce air pollution in Wales;

reform planning law to require impact of air pollution to be given greater weight in the planning system.

Amendment 2 moved.

Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. May I welcome this motion? We'll be happy to support it, of course, but we do want to move an amendment just to expand a little on what we believe can be done.

Plaid Cymru, of course, did hold a debate on this issue earlier this year, and, therefore, we are very happy to see that support continues, and this is something that we are all eager to see, or I hope that each and every one of us is eager to see. Because the damage caused by air pollution is undoubted. We've heard some of the statistics.

We've heard some of the statistics already listed. We know that Public Health Wales has said that air pollution is now a public health crisis second only to smoking, and this figure of 2,000 deaths a year is a startling figure. Maybe I and others are guilty of bandying this figure around so many times that you lose that sense of proportionality—2,000 deaths, or 40-odd deaths a week, from something that we could actually prevent. That's the reality. And of course—

Will the Member take an intervention?

Well, yes, okay.

I'm grateful to the Member for taking an intervention. Of course, that's the deaths figure that Public Health Wales have put there, but how much illness, and critical illness, is caused that is underlying that graphic figure that you just put out there?

An absolutely valid point, and I'm glad you made it because it's important that we do remember that as well.

It disproportionately affects, of course, people in deprived areas, which, again, is something that is of huge concern. We know that both short and long-term exposure to ambient air pollution can lead to reduced lung function, respiratory infections and aggravated asthma. Maternal exposure is associated with adverse birth outcomes, such as low birth weight, pre-term birth and small gestational age births. There's emerging evidence also suggesting that ambient air pollution can affect diabetes and neurological development in children. It can cause, as we know, many cancers, and some air pollutants are also linked to psychiatric conditions.

As Plaid Cymru environment spokesperson, of course, there are ecological effects as well. Air pollution can cause serious environmental damages, clearly to the air, but also to the groundwater and to soil, and it can seriously threaten the diversity of life. Studies on the relationship between air pollution and reducing species diversity clearly show the detrimental effects of environmental contaminants on the extinction of animals and plant species.

Many Members will be aware that we have, of course, a cross-party group on a clean air Act in this Assembly, and Dr Dai Lloyd chairs that. I have to say, when Dai used his short debate, a number of months ago now, to call for an Act, he shared with us one thing that really stuck with me: 150 and more years ago people tolerated dirty drinking water, and we look back and we think, 'How outrageous was that?' Well, we're tolerating, or we have been tolerating, dirty air. In years to come, we'll be looking back in the same way and thinking, 'How on earth did we ever imagine that we could tolerate that?' I hope now that people are realising that the time has come to act.

So, moving on to our amendment, clearly, as I say, we're supportive of the motion and the principle behind it, we just wanted to maybe articulate a bit further some of the actions that we feel are needed.

We need to ensure that diesel-only and petrol-only vehicles are phased out gradually by 2030, and before that if possible, but certainly the technology must allow us to do that. There are options. There is a place in mid Wales producing hydrogen vehicles. I went on a visit there—Riversimple. So, there are options out there. What we must do is ensure that people can take advantage of those opportunities.

We need to see clean air zones in towns and cities. We heard about Cardiff and Port Talbot, which have higher levels of particulate matter than Birmingham and Manchester, and some of the most polluted streets in Britain outside London are in Wales.

We need to give communities rights to place pollution-monitoring equipment outside schools and hospitals. We need to enable local authorities to introduce pollution and congestion charges. We need, yes, national plans, but also regional plans to reduce air pollution in Wales. And I do feel strongly that we need to reform planning law to make it a requirement to put more emphasis on the impact of air pollution within that planning system.

There is a lot more that can be done. The major frustration for me is that much of this hasn't already been done. There’s been too much dragging of feet. And, as I said earlier, every week that we wait will lead to around 40 unnecessary deaths. So, the time for talking must be over, and I'm looking to Government here and saying, 'It's time for action.'

Margaret Barnard was secretary of a British Lung Foundation-supported Breathe Easy in Neath, a Welsh group of people living with lung disease, mainly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The group offered mutual support and raised money for pulmonary rehabilitation equipment. She was utterly unforgettable to everyone who knew her. I mention Margaret not just for her award-winning work with the British Lung Foundation, but her determination to live well, set an example, despite a most debilitating condition that eventually took her life in 2016.

Margaret may have been marvellous, but suffocation is not. That's why we need action to help all the other Margarets in Wales—5,500 years of life lost every year in the former Abertawe Bro Morgannwg university health board area, 368 actual deaths from nitrogen dioxide, and the smallest particulate matter pollution every year, and that's just one health board area. In my own area, in South Wales East, there's an estimated 300 deaths a year of those aged 25 and above that's been attributed to air pollution.

Now, these may not be the headline-grabbing figures that we see for heart disease and cancer, but, of course, air pollution is implicated in cardiovascular and cancer cases too. You might expect the number of deaths due to air pollution to look pretty bad in areas of densest population, of car users, power stations and, of course, heavy industry. But, actually, air pollution's status as an invisible killer is best evidenced by the fact that it's in north Wales where we see the greatest number of deaths, due to the smallest particulate matter, which was mentioned by my colleague Angela Burns earlier—the danger dust that comes from brake wear, tyre wear and from road surface wear. North Wales may be more rural, less populated, but like areas in the south—Newport and conurbations—it doesn't have free-flowing traffic. That traffic, rather than other sources, is the greatest air contaminant in Wales, and it's a daunting problem. Replacing petrol and diesel vehicles with electric equivalents still means that cars, lorries and buses producing that danger dust—the PM2.5—are with us today. Yet, separating us from our cars, as we've discussed, requires huge culture change as well as realistic alternatives. Of course, change has happened in the past; I remember when ultra-low sulphur petrol was first brought in—hailed as a great innovation. It was an innovation—it was better than the leaded petrol that had come before—but here we are a number of years down the line now and we need other innovations as well, and electric vehicles must be part of that.

It needs us to be brave and bold, and that's far less intimidating if we all agree it needs doing. I think the political will is here in this Chamber, however disguised it is by the amendment that Angela Burns mentioned earlier—the 'delete all' amendment. We do welcome Plaid Cymru's amendment, which we think brings a valuable aspect to this debate, but we look to see whether that will carry.

This isn't a time for Government, either Welsh Government or UK Government, to get defensive; it's time for all of us to turn a commitment into action. Bridgend County Borough Council announced its first air quality management area in January 2019 for Park Street, not incidentally a particularly deprived area. Details on exactly how the council plans to make improvements there are not so easy to find, although you can find details of how planning permission for two controversial building developments will add further to traffic congestion there.

It's an issue not just for us to discuss, but for local authorities out there across Wales who do a lot of the work on the ground, to make sure that there's transparency in their operations so that people do have access to this sort of information so that informed decisions can be taken. Reducing the volume of road traffic is one thing, but poor traffic management is every bit as much of a culprit here as our love of the car, and it's a big ask of councils to retrofit much-needed changes to local infrastructure, particularly at a time when, obviously, budgets are stretched.

Fifty miles per hour zones are a potential part of the answer, but not the whole answer that Welsh Government might be hoping for. In my area, we have high hopes for the south Wales metro, but many of the more promising innovations are in the future: in south-west Wales, a metro there may be part of the answer, and we look for planning towards that; traffic management must be part of the answer and reducing traffic volume over time; more active travel has been mentioned by Assembly Members; public transport, of course, that people will be able to use effectively, and I mentioned in the business statement yesterday how in my area it's one thing to get to Cardiff to work in the morning, but it's very difficult to get home at night when there isn't a bus service after 5.30 pm. Local development plans should insist that the location of candidate sites for housing will help and not exacerbate the problem in existing hotspots—rather, it should alleviate them. As I said earlier, Dirprwy Lywydd, we are not supportive of the 'delete all' amendment. We do support what the Plaid Cymru amendment brings to the debate.

Thank you very much. Jenny Rathbone.

Thank you. I can't say I disagree with anything that the speakers have said so far and I think there is a huge measure of agreement on the emergency that faces us and the action needed. So, I hope that the Minister will in her response tell us why she thinks there are only 1,400 people in Wales dying of air pollution when the British Lung Foundation says it's 2,000, because that's quite a significant difference.

I'm going to speak about the situation in Cardiff, as I'm a Cardiff representative on my feet, and Cardiff has air pollution equivalent to or worse than the air pollution in Manchester and Birmingham and that is a pretty damning statistic given that Birmingham and Manchester are much larger conurbations. So, we have a really serious problem here in Cardiff, and we can see why, because we know that four in five people commute into Cardiff by car and only 8 per cent were made on foot and a mere 2 per cent by bike. So, there's a massive culture change and behaviour change that needs to happen.

One of the most polluted areas in my constituency is Newport Road, which both contains the Cardiff Royal Infirmary—ex-hospital, now enlarged health centre—but which is bang next door to a primary school, which has absolutely ghastly levels of air pollution because of the number of commuters going past the door in the morning. So, they've introduced a green screen, an artificial green tree on the fence to try and protect their playground from toxic fumes, and it's a good idea—it does, indeed, according to pilots elsewhere, reduce the amount of pollution by about 20 per cent, but, clearly, that is not sufficient in a highly polluted area. I would like to see the closure of that road but I'm told that, already, the traffic going on the alternative route is working at 106 per cent of capacity. So, those sort of localised solutions aren't sufficient.

We have to reduce the amount of traffic being used for commuting both for school journeys and for people going to work overall, and that means we obviously need a better public transport system, but we also need to completely change the way we think about how our children get to school. We need to have zero tolerance of these parents who are still insisting on taking their child straight to the school gates, which is both bad for the child and bad for the whole community. Last week, I went with the cabinet member for the environment and transport for Cardiff Council on a bicycle ride from Llanishen High School to Pentwyn, from where a lot of students from my constituency are travelling to Llanishen High School. It's nearly 3 miles and the cost of the school transport is a huge barrier to many young people who are simply not turning up in school because they can't afford the bus fare by the end of the week, even though they are eligible for free school meals. That is a desperate situation and we need to ensure that these pupils have alternative modes of transport, and if we can give them a bicycle purchase scheme, there are routes already available, with one or two pinch points that need addressing, to enable them to get to school quite easily—they are aged 11 and above—without having to resort to this expensive school transport. So, that's one thing.

There are electric buses going to be coming into Cardiff because they've been successful in getting Department for Transport money, and that's going to go—. Four of these bus routes on Newport Road are going to be cleaned up as a result. But we really do need to see the sort of clean air zones that are going to be introduced into Birmingham, and are promised in Manchester as well, to ensure our capital city actually feels like a capital city rather than a place where the most deprived population is having to live in areas of huge pollution.

I want to just remind members of the Conservative Party that the lack of electrification of the main line to Swansea is also a huge contributor to the ongoing pollution in Cardiff, and that is because the bi-mode transport means that once the train is either heading towards Swansea or coming back from Swansea, they're belching out diesel fumes instead of much cleaner electric. So, we absolutely need to see a massive change.

And the other big change we need to see is e-bikes, which many of us tried out yesterday when they were brought for us to try out. This is a massive opportunity to switch people not from push bikes but from cars onto e-bikes because they enable the less able, physically, to use a bicycle, they enable you to go up steep hills, as I have in my constituency, and they also enable you to get heavy shopping home without struggling. So, I think e-bikes are one of the ways that we can really promote a different way of getting around our city. But we also have to think of things like school exclusion zones to stop these people from doing the wrong thing and cluttering up the traffic outside of school that endangers all pupils.

In a speech at the American University in Washington in June 1963, President John F. Kennedy said:

'our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air.'

That was a famous quote by a very famous man and, of course, what a true statement. Later in the same speech, he spoke about human rights and went on to say—his quote is:

'the right to breathe air as nature provided it—the right of future generations to a healthy existence'.

That is what this debate is all about this afternoon, Deputy Presiding Officer. It is a sad fact that Wales contains some of the most polluted areas in the United Kingdom, and there is a clear link between air quality, deprivation and health. Studies have shown that there's a danger to public health that follows repeated exposure to air pollution. Air pollution increases the links to mortality by having a detrimental effect on existing lung conditions. It is also a cause of asthma and lung cancer. This risk is particularly acute to children exposed to air pollution. It's linked to diabetes, cognitive functions, birth defects, outcomes, and damage to organs such as the liver and kidneys—very, very important parts of our body. Some of the most polluted areas exist in my south-east Wales region. Across the Aneurin Bevan health board area, some 15 per cent of adults are receiving treatment for breathing problems.

Members will be aware that homes at the A472 at Hafodyrynys suffer the highest level of nitrogen dioxide in Wales. Levels recorded in 2015 and 2016 were exceeded only by those recorded in central London. In response, Caerphilly council has decided to take the drastic measure of buying 23 of the worst-affected properties and demolishing them. The Welsh Government has agreed to provide the necessary funding, estimated at £4.5 million. This situation at Hafodyrynys has been allowed to continue for too long. Caerphilly council's policy of doing the minimum and waiting for technology to change by 2025 has been woefully inadequate.

Deputy Presiding Officer, this highlights the need for a clean air Act in Wales. The British Lung Foundation and Healthy Air Cymru have called on the Welsh Government to introduce such a Bill. The Welsh Government has been slow in responding to the health risks posed by the poor air quality in Wales. This failure to act resulted in ClientEarth taking legal action. Ministers have failed to set clear targets instead of making a vague statement that denies accountability. A Welsh clean air Act would enshrine in law air quality guidelines produced by the World Health Organization. It would mandate the Welsh Government to produce a statutory air quality strategy with clear targets to improve air quality in Wales. There would be a duty on local authorities to monitor and assess air pollution and to take prompt and effective action accordingly, and it would introduce an obligation on local authorities to inform vulnerable groups when pollution levels breach recommended guidelines.

Deputy Presiding Officer, as President Kennedy said more than 50 years ago, the right to breathe clean air is a human right. We all breathe the same air; we all have a right to breathe clean air. I would like to urge all of you to support this motion today. Thank you.

I welcome the opportunity to discuss this important topic and thank the Welsh Conservatives for bringing forward this debate. As I've highlighted many times, poor air quality is one of the biggest public health challenges facing Wales. This is particularly true in the region I represent and live in, South Wales West, which has some of the dirtiest air quality in the UK. PM10s are often well above the safe daily limit; at several schools in my region, we have had many days in the last few months where they were double the safe daily limit.

Air pollutants are to blame for the deaths of at least five people per day in Wales and the biggest contributor to air pollution is transport. Since the UK Labour Government incentivised the switch to diesel, the number of particulates and nitrogen dioxide in our atmosphere increased dramatically. The current UK Government recognised the folly of this policy and have introduced a new vehicle tax system to penalise the most polluting vehicles. They have also introduced a new scrappage scheme designed to get old polluting vehicles off the road, and made a commitment to move to an all-electric vehicle future by phasing out all fossil-fuelled engines by 2040.

I welcome these moves. These moves by the UK Government need to be backed up by the action of the Welsh Government. The Welsh Government has been taken to court for its lack of action on tackling air pollution. It’s high time they fulfilled their duties to the Welsh public. They can start by taking action to reduce traffic congestion, which amplifies the effect of traffic pollution. They have introduced 50 mph speed limits on the M4 near my home, yet there is little to no evidence that it will help improve air quality. All this has done is to increase traffic congestion. I would like to see the Welsh Government ensuring that the planning system takes account of the effect new developments will have on traffic congestion.

I have said all along that air pollution is a public health issue and that the Welsh Government must develop a strategy to tackle poor air quality at a national level—

Will you take an intervention?

Certainly.

I'm just struggling to understand how you think it's a major issue, but you still resist 50 mph, which obviously reduces the amount of—

Well, because the traffic congestion on junction 41 and so on is awful.

You could have everybody running around at 100 mph, but it would just increase the pollution, because there'd be even more vehicles.

But the congestion there of vehicles stopped has—

No, you can't have a conversation across the Chamber.

We can have a conversation later.

In addition to local authorities monitoring air quality, there needs to be a reporting system to alert residents of poor air quality. Developments such as the British-made Sentinel-5P satellite, which monitors air pollutants, could be utilised at a national level to improve forecasting of high levels of air pollution and should be used to warn the public about such events, in much the same way that weather reports feature pollen counts. Welsh and UK Governments need to act on this urgently. High pollution levels kill.

We have to consider the huge infrastructure challenges brought by the electrification of transport. How can we deliver charging points to those people not fortunate to have a driveway or garage? I would urge the Governments, both in Wales and at Westminster, to invest in the development of wireless vehicle charging. 

Will you take an intervention?

Not another one, sorry. Oh, go on. Go on.

In regard to the importance of pollution, is your party now of the understanding and of the nature that pollution and climate change are very intricately linked?

I have always been of that mind. [Interruption.] I'm speaking for myself. You've asked me a question; you haven't asked my party. You've asked me—my point, and I've emphasised it. Thank you.

So, both Wales and Westminster need to invest in the development of wireless vehicle charging. Both Governments also need to ensure the roll-out of electric vehicle charging is not impeded by the planning system. We have to tackle this major public health challenge head on. We have to clean up our act. Alternative forms of transport—walking, when possible—are to be encouraged. We must all work together, though, to ensure no-one dies as a result of poor air quality in the future. We need a clean air Act, as simply demolishing houses in heavily polluted areas is not the answer. We have to tackle the problem and not the symptoms. Diolch yn fawr.

I'm pleased to contribute to this debate. In recent years, for very proper reasons, climate change has come to dominate our political agenda. But, for many people, I think because they don't see an immediate impact in what they're doing, they're dissuaded from making some of the choices that would really benefit us long term. But, when we come to air quality, it is an area that has an immediate impact, and improving air quality an immediate benefit. I think that's what we need to emphasise this afternoon.

I've championed this continuously. It was one of the first speeches I made in this fifth Assembly, when I challenged the Government as to why they didn’t have an air quality section on their programme for government. Fortunately, they put that right very quickly, and I think we have advanced considerably. It was a central part of the strategy we launched last year on liveable cities, and I'm delighted to see the innovations that are being brought and suggestions in this policy area, and indeed I put Plaid's amendment in that category.

Coincidentally, Deputy Presiding Officer, there's an excellent article in today's Financial Times that summarises some of the recent research that shows the short-term impacts of bad air, and I don't think anyone's actually concentrated on that this afternoon, so perhaps I will be able to outline some of the latest studies. It's basically showing the short-term impacts on child development, on productivity, on cognitive effectiveness—all these things are being seen to have big short-term effects, as well as long ones. Research conducted in Israel found that a modest increase in particulates on the day of an Israeli students' high school examination is associated with a significant decline in the exam results of those students. When you really think about it, one significant day of air pollution could have a dramatic impact on your education and your future prospects—quite remarkable.

Another piece of research looked at call centre staff working for the same company but in different Chinese cities. On polluted days, productivity fell by between 5 and 6 per cent. Poor air quality also causes weaker performance in—and I'm not making this up—German professional footballers. They have been able to measure, on the day of the game, that, if you have been subjected to poor quality, it has an effect on your physical and mental abilities. Another study shows that living in an area of the US with a high carbon monoxide pollution rate does more harm to a baby in utero than the mother smoking 10 cigarettes a day, and another study shows that almost 3,000 children in Barcelona who were exposed to more than average air pollution suffered slower cognitive development. These are really quite significant and worrying findings, and we need to really take them very seriously indeed.

I would also like to look at a completely different area to conclude, and that’s the quality of indoor air pollution. Studies have shown that this can be over three times worse than outdoor air pollution, and UK campaigners have called this effect on our households as 'toxic boxes' due to the number of air pollution particulates that can be trapped inside our homes. Research has said this is due to a combination of indoor activities, such as cooking or burning wood, alongside outdoor pollution from transport, which travel inside, creating a build-up of pollution inside the home, and these pollution peaks take a lot longer to disperse than outdoor pollution. So, I think it’s very important that we remember, in terms of the quality of housing design and our current policy, in terms of how we renovate and improve energy efficiency and the like, that there’s a real air quality impact, and those pollutants building up at home can turn our most precious spaces into zones of significant harm.

So, we really need now to have a comprehensive strategy, I think, around air quality. It fits into climate change, but it also fits into many public health issues, productivity, the efficiency of the economy and educational outcomes. But I’ve been very pleased with the tone of the debate this afternoon. I really do think this is beyond party politics, and what we want from everyone and from the Government is more ambition, and we’ll encourage you when you set more ambitious targets, and that’s really also what I think the people of Wales want.

Since becoming an Assembly Member, I now travel between north Wales and south Wales regularly, and I use the M4 around Newport to do this. Like other drivers, I adhere to the speed limit. However, the reduction of speed on the M4 comes as a bit of a surprise, as signage doesn’t give any reason for the change, and there are no warnings. The natural reaction is to slow right down sometimes, which is well below the 50 mph speed limit, and this is also hazardous. In these circumstances, I can see how accidents happen, and I know that even minor accidents bring this major piece of infrastructure to a standstill, and I only do this once a week; some people have to do this every day to get to work, make deliveries and so on. Could you think about more effective signage to alert drivers to the forthcoming reduction in speed limit and the reason why?

And I also know that the M4 around Newport and the feeder road into it are often at a standstill, because I have to drive on them coming into Cardiff, with cars idling on the roads for long periods of time and creating massive bottlenecks. I fail to see how the reduction in the speed limit helps when cars are sat spewing out exhaust fumes. I also understand that assessments of air quality have been taken after the speed limits have been reduced and the results have come out as inconclusive. I did think that the Welsh Government made decisions and policy based on evidence, and that doesn’t appear to have happened here—perhaps you could clarify that for me. As this is the case, does this Government plan to continue to assess, test and publish the results, and take action like extending the speed limit restrictions, or, where no difference is made, reinstating them? As someone who lives in a very, very rural area with good air quality, I really do notice the difference when I arrive in south-east Wales. I do, however, accept that there is also a fine balance to be struck between the quest for clean air and the ability of people to make their living and get to where they need to be, and I thank the Conservatives for bringing this debate to the Chamber today, and I will support this debate.

Thank you. Can I now call the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths?

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I'd like to take this opportunity to update Members on the action this Government has taken to enable people in Wales to breathe clean air. And, since my last statement on this subject early this year, our efforts have been focused on tackling air pollution in those areas of Wales worst affected by it, and are making progress towards the introduction of a clean air Act. As well as setting out the steps we're taking towards new legislation, the Government amendments correct inaccuracies in the original motion, which includes outdated figures and erroneous statements. 

In answer to Jenny Rathbone's specific question around figures, I think it's really important to stress that the figures provided by Public Health Wales on the impact of air pollution are based on scientific studies that look to provide a reasoned estimate of the overall level of harm caused. It's a calculation to illustrate the scale of the harm. It's not the same, for example, as saying 2,000 people die early each year as a result of car accidents. Such a list would really understate the true harm. The impact of air pollution cannot be easily attributed in the same way and different assumptions made in the calculations used to produce estimates will produce different figures. But, those statistical challenges aside, the figure gives us the ability to say confidently that air pollution is our biggest environmental public health risk.

The legal action to which the opposition motion refers relates to localised air quality issues in Cardiff city centre and Hafodyrynys Road in Caerphilly. It is of course the case that even worse air quality issues led to the same legal challenge in England, and indeed in countries right across the European Union. Since our last debate, both Cardiff and Caerphilly local authorities have produced their plans to tackle the problem under direction from Welsh Government and in response the Welsh Government's funded independent expert advice, and we've also deployed our own officials to assist the local authorities with additional capacity and expertise. We've produced a further set of directions for both local authorities and we've allocated additional funding to support delivery so we can be certain these issues will be tackled in the shortest possible time. I commend both authorities for proceeding with this work without hesitation or delay. 

In my last statement on air quality, I announced my colleague Ken Skates's decision to make permanent the 50 mph speed limits that we introduced in air pollution hotspots on the motorway and trunk road network. Since then, we have continued to monitor their effectiveness and we've installed average speed cameras to ensure the limits are observed by all drivers using those roads. We're currently—[Interruption.] Not for a moment. We're currently bringing forward clearer signage, in answer to Mandy Jones's specific question. I think it's really important that that signange explains why those 50 mph zones are there so that the public understand the reasons behind it, because I think that's where we have made a mistake with that. I think it's really important. I've got one in my own constituency, you will have heard me say before, and people don't understand the reason for it. So, we are in the process of drawing that up and they will be installed in the very near future. I give way.

Can I ask, Minister, is there compelling evidence as yet as to whether these zones are successful in reducing air pollution?

We are awaiting—I think it's the end of this month that we will have a year's data, but certainly the facts and data that we have seen show that we are absolutely right to bring those now onto a permanent basis.

Since our last debate, we've also continued to make progress towards the introduction of a clean air Act for Wales and the next stage in developing the Act will be the publication of a clean air plan for consultation before the end of this calendar year. As well as outlining the need for new powers through primary legislation, the plan will also explain how we will make better use of existing powers, the steps we will take to strengthen monitoring, and how we will improve the accessibility of air quality information we make publicly available with a focus on protecting vulnerable groups. So, I urge all Assembly Members with an interest in this subject to contribute their ideas to this process, and I welcome the cross-party consensus developing on this issue, because our health and the environment will benefit as a result. 

The motion from the Conservative Party says it would be better for a clean air Act to be brought forward this Assembly term—so, within the next 18 months. Of course, there would be far greater legislative capacity available to this Assembly if it wasn't for the shambolic Tory Brexit over which their party presides. I really feel in making this call Welsh Conservative Members would do very well to recognise the intense pressures on this legislature and our officials due to their party's failures. 

The Tories in opposition in Wales are keen to talk about rights also, whilst it's clear to the rest of us, from their actions in Government, their respect for rights is very shallow indeed. The Tories criticise us for respecting the rulings of the European Court, for instance, where their party policy is to dodge the jurisdiction of the court entirely in order to undermine environmental regulation, workers' rights and any other social protections that they think they can get away with taking away from us. 

So, I do believe a clean air Act for Wales will be necessary to achieve the level of protection that we need, and I do hope everyone will work and support us in doing this. 

I call on Andrew R.T. Davies to reply to the debate. 

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I welcome the contributions from across the floor on this very important subject. We can split hairs on the totality of the numbers, whether it's 1,400 or 2,000; I think what we all accept is that there's an unacceptable number of premature deaths in Wales. The figure that is in our motion is taken from Public Health Wales, which as I understand it is the Government's own body that advises it on public health matters. To put that into a quantifiable number, that's in excess of 40 deaths a week. Now, if anyone came to this Chamber or came to this legislature and said that there was this number of premature deaths in any other facet of our lives, there would be rapid action in this particular area.

I draw on what Llyr Gruffydd said about Dai Lloyd's short debate, where he highlighted the legislation that came forward to clean up dirty water. One hundred and fifty years ago, it was seen as the norm for people just to draw out of polluted wells et cetera, and that's what society accepted. It cannot be acceptable for us, as Angela Burns in her opening remarks said, to put up with something that is a right. It is a right that we should have clean air. And wherever you live, in whatever community you live in, you should have that right, and Mohammad Asghar touched on what President John F. Kennedy said: we should have it as nature intended. And we have the means to do that. We know the mechanics around pollution, as many speakers have spoken about, in particular in the field of transport, but also in the field of planning. 

Jenny Rathbone, the Member for Cardiff Central, highlighted an arterial road in Cardiff that I know very well—Newport Rd, for example. And for huge tracts of the day, that is just bumper to bumper, and it's bumper to bumper because, for many people, they don't have alternatives. They do have to use the car. And unless we as policy makers, working with other levers of government, local government and at a national UK level, make these changes, then we're going to continue seeing this level of premature deaths.

And, of course, what people are reflecting on as well are obviously the critical illnesses that lead up to those premature deaths. Many, many tens of thousands of people, as Nick Ramsay touched on in his remarks, talking about Margaret Barnard, are suffocating to death. Can you imagine watching a loved one suffocating to death slowly over months and years, knowing that the people who are in charge of our environment and in charge of our legislatures and our policy positions could, if they wanted to, make dramatic improvements across the board? And that's why this motion does call for a clean air Act to be brought forward in the legislative programme.

Regrettably, the Government have chosen not to do that, and I do not accept the Minister's rebuttal that, ultimately, it's because of Brexit that this can't be done. The Government have proven time and time again, when they have a pressing issue, they can bring the legislation forward, as the agricultural wages Bill proved, which was brought forward in record time. Is 2,000 people dying a year not a national emergency, Minister, which you have the levers to deal with? Why won't you as a Government deal with that? Surely this is something that should be on your radar and dealt with in a timely manner, rather than blaming Brexit for not bringing the legislative process forward.

And likewise, subscribing to the World Health Organization recommendations around clean air, which is what our motion is calling for—you can go further. The UK Government have subscribed to the World Health Organization's recommendations, why is the Welsh Government not doing that? Why aren't you using that as the benchmark, rather than saying about the so-called UK Government rowing back on workers' rights, et cetera? That is not the case? The Prime Minister and other leaders up in Westminster have said that they will enshrine in law those rights that have been hard earned over many decades. That is a fact. You can shrug your shoulders there, Minister, as much as you want, but that is a fact. On your watch, people are dying because of poor air quality and this Government is not using the levers that are available to it. 

The Llywydd took the Chair.

I would also draw on what David Melding has said about the Conservative benches bringing forward the 'Liveable Cities' document, which is now some 12 or 18 months old, with real solutions for some real quick wins that we can achieve in this particular area. And I would urge the Government to redouble its efforts in this particular field.

I am grateful for the Brexit Party's contribution as well and the indication of support from Caroline Jones and Mandy Jones, because we do know that, yes, transport is a big player in this, and many people turning to electric cars has been part of the solution and moving forward on that agenda, but we also know that brake pads and tyre particles in the air still account for 40 per cent of the particle matter that is breathed in by citizens the length and breadth of Wales. So, I would hope that Members will support the motion that's before them today, amended by the acceptable amendment that we've taken from Plaid Cymru, and reject the 'delete all' amendment that was put down by the Government, which is bitterly regrettable in what should be a consensual debate.

The proposal is to agree the motion without amendment. Does any Member object? [Objection.] I will defer voting until voting time.

Voting deferred until voting time.