A Clean Air Act

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Climate Change – in the Senedd at 1:10 pm on 16 June 2021.

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Photo of Lee Waters Lee Waters Labour 1:10, 16 June 2021

Thank you for that important challenge. We are committed to introducing a piece of legislation. Clearly, the programme for government covers the whole of this Senedd term, and there is much legislation that we want to introduce. So, it's going to take time for all the pieces of legislation to be introduced. Clearly, air quality is an urgent challenge and we can't wait simply for legislation to pass in order to start tackling it, nor are we. I am assured by Welsh Government officials that we will have regulations in place in this Senedd term to tackle the agenda that Jayne Bryant has outlined. But just as important are what actions we can do in the meantime to tackle the issue. I'm very pleased to be coming to Newport tomorrow, on Clean Air Day, to look at the electric buses and the active travel routes that the authority have invested in and developed there. I think they're showing some great leadership in the work that they are doing.

The commitment in the Wales transport strategy, the modal shift, is essential; the work of the Burns report and the South East Wales Transport Commission, again, is vital. It's about getting people out of polluting cars and into more sustainable, environmentally friendly forms of transport, which can have a real impact in the short term on air quality; not simply waiting for legislation, which has its part to play. We're expecting, in the coming months, fresh recommendations from the World Health Organization, and we want to make sure that those recommendations are built into the legislation that we bring forward. We want to do that—let me just reiterate—on a cross-party basis if we can. We know that there are other parties in the Assembly who are committed to a clean air Act. It'll be interesting to understand, beyond the headline, what substance they support within that, because it's easy to say it, it's harder to do it. I'm reminded of the quote of Aneurin Bevan, who accused the Conservative Prime Minister of putting flamboyant labels on empty luggage. I'd hate to see that repeated in the commitments of the Conservatives to a clean air Act, because I think it's easy to talk about clean air, but the tough stuff you need to make it happen is often difficult and controversial. I'd be very pleased if we could sit down together and see what areas of commonality there are, because this agenda, clearly, is important for us all.