Meeting of the Parliament 17 April 2018
I thank the committee for the important work that it has done in this area. I confess that the policy issue of air quality is not one that I have followed closely. However, in preparation for the debate, I considered the fact that air pollution is responsible for up to 2,500 deaths in Scotland, and noted that the front page of today’s Scotsman says that medical charities are saying that the issue counts as a “medical emergency”. I also noted that, last year, the WHO said that Glasgow—the region that I represent—has worse pollution than London. From those few examples, it is clear that there are major issues in this policy area.
I will address a local example and then relate that to some of the general issues that the committee has raised. I stay in Cambuslang, which is part of the Glasgow region. In 2016, Main Street in Cambuslang was cited as one of the most polluted streets in Scotland, with 45 micrograms of NO2 per cubic metre. The reasons for that are obvious. It is an area with intense traffic. It is near the motorway, which is important for connectivity with regard to the economy but which obviously increases traffic through Main Street.
In addition, a lot of vehicles use Main Street due to inadequate bus services. Recently, a constituent approached me with an issue about bus travel to Hairmyres hospital, which is about 4 miles away from Cambuslang. A lot of people travel to hospital by bus, and the constituent described to me the journey that he has to take to get there, which involves walking for a quarter of a mile, taking a bus to East Kilbride and then taking a further bus to the hospital—a journey that takes about an hour and a quarter in total. Such a journey is a challenge for people who do not have cars, and there is a general transport issue here. If we are trying to encourage people to use public transport instead of cars, it is important that we ensure that there are appropriate bus routes to destinations such as hospitals. I know that Cambuslang community council has campaigned strongly on the issue. It has demanded greater enforcement, and has said that the area should be a priority for the establishment of a low-emission zone—there is a strong case for that.
With regard to the issues that the committee’s report has identified, there is clearly a frustration around the timescales that the Government has set and concern about whether there is sufficient funding and infrastructure for the four low-emission zones that will be set up. The resignation of the Scottish Environment LINK representative from the Government’s strategy group indicates that not all is well in this area.
There remain challenges for local government funding. I do not want to rerun the budget debate, but it is clear that the Government has not prioritised council funding over a number of years. If we want local government to be part of the effort to meet the policy challenge of reducing emissions and ensuring better air quality, councils need to be properly funded.
A number of members have pointed out the challenges around active travel. In 2016, 42 per cent of adults drove every day, so promoting active travel is still a major task. As others have said, there are great benefits in getting people to walk or cycle to their destination. As well as reducing emissions, it can make people fitter and healthier. There also remains the challenge of getting people out of petrol and diesel vehicles and into low-emission vehicles. As has been pointed out, there needs to be greater awareness of and information about low-emission vehicles.
Greater leadership from the Government is needed to overcome the technical, funding and political challenges presented by the issue of air quality.
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