To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans are in place for Highways England to share real time data from its National Air Quality Monitoring Network; and when they estimate those data will be publicly available.
Answered on
28 September 2020
Highways England has no plans in place to make real-time air quality monitoring data from its network publicly available. When Highways England developed its network, it worked with both Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Environment Agency to explore opportunities to integrate its air quality monitoring network with DEFRA’s online real-time monitoring. Health and safety issues associated with the placing of air quality monitoring stations next to strategic roads meant they were not consistent with the requirements of DEFRA’s system and consequently it was not possible to integrate the Highways England monitoring in to their online reporting.
Highways England produces annual reports of all data collected by its monitoring stations, which are available on request.