Councils highlighted by the Government as failing to tackle high air pollution feel the criticism is unfair.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs last week named 39 English local authorities outside London, including cities such as Birmingham, Derby and Reading, which have failed to complete assessment reports of air quality and drawn up action plans to combat identified problems.
But Derby’s environmental health manager, John Tomlinson, said it was disappointing, given that DEFRA was ‘fully aware of problems that were beyond our control’. The local press had portrayed it as a ‘naming and shaming’. Lancaster City Council had replied ‘immediately’ to a December letter from DEFRA asking for an explanation. ‘We are awaiting its comments,’ a spokesman said.
But a DEFRA spokesman said: ‘A number of local authorities have fallen behind the rest. Local people have the right to expect their councils to do whatever they can to ensure cleaner air.’
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