Meetings

The Committee considered an update on the petition and agreed to note the publication of the Clean Air Plan and the petitioners’ further comments.  In light of the petitioners’ satisfaction with much of the content of the Plan and the wider nature of the actions they are seeking to improve air quality in general, the Committee agreed to close the petition and, in doing so:

o   write to the Chair of the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee to share the petitioners’ detailed comments to inform their current Inquiry into air quality; and

o   write to share the additional detailed comments about the Welsh Government’s Clean Air Plan and proposals for a White Paper on a new Clean Air Act with the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs for information.

The Committee considered further correspondence and agreed to await the outcome of the current consultation on the draft Clean Air Plan for Wales and any changes or amendments that they Welsh Government intends to take forward as a result, before considering the petition again.

The Committee considered further correspondence on the petition and agreed to await the publication of the draft Clean Air Plan for Wales later in 2019 before considering further action on the petition.

The Committee considered further correspondence and agreed to:

·         write to other groups such as Natural Resources Wales, Public Health Wales and the Health & Safety Executive to seek their views on the petition; and

·         request a legal paper clarifying the legal powers of the commissioners.

The Committee considered correspondence from the petitioner and agreed to:

• write to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs to seek a response to the suggestion that powers over anti-idling zones should be devolved to local authorities, and the concerns raised that local authorities have insufficient resources to carry out adequate monitoring and improvement of local air quality; and
• write to the Future Generations Commissioner to seek her views on the issues raised by the petition and what powers she has in relation to addressing the effects of air pollution on children.

The Committee considered correspondence from the Minister for Environment and agreed to await a response from the petitioners to the information provided by the Minister before considering whether to take any further action on the petition.

The Committee considered correspondence from the Minister for Environment, the Welsh Local Government Association and the petitioner and agreed to write back to the Minister for Environment to:

• seek her views on the detailed comments made by the petitioner, particularly around the risks outlined relating to the current monitoring provisions; and

·         to ask if the suggestions made might help inform the Clean Air Plan for Wales.

The Committee considered the petition for the first time and agreed to:

• write to the Minister for the Environment to seek a response to the Chair’s letter of 5 June and in doing so, note the Committee’s disappointment that a response to that letter was not received within the expected timeframe;
• seek substantive comments from the petitioners once the Minister’s response has been received; and
• write to the WLGA to ask for details of work that local authorities are undertaking to manage air quality around schools, in light of local air quality management (LAQM) policy guidance issued in June 2017;

before considering the petition again as soon as possible in the autumn term.