Mayor secures more than £300,000 to boost air quality in the capital

28 November 2013

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has successfully secured an additional £335,000 from a £1m Government pot to tackle air pollution, build green infrastructure and support low emission vehicles in the capital.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has awarded 12 grants, totalling £335,000 to nine London boroughs from its £1m Air Quality Grants Programme.

Projects include a cross-borough partnership with Barts NHS Trust to raise awareness of air pollution with vulnerable patients, a scheme to encourage businesses to adopt low emission vehicles and a ‘green wall’ made of vegetation to shield children in primary schools from air pollution along the A4.

The funding will also be used to support a campaign led by Southwark Council to get people to turn off their engines while waiting in traffic at Tower Bridge in a bid to reduce emissions at this iconic London landmark.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: ‘I am delighted that the government is supporting my efforts to improve air quality in London. I have already committed £20m from my own Air Quality Fund and this extra funding will further our progress in making London the cleanest and greenest big city on earth.’

Environment Minister Dan Rogerson said: ‘Local authorities play a vital role in improving and maintaining air quality standards and this funding will allow them to continue some of the good work that they do. We were really pleased with the response we received to this year’s grant programme and it’s great to see the variety of projects which are benefitting air quality across the country’.

The Mayor’s Air Quality Fund, which was launched in February, provides match-funding for boroughs and partners that produce innovative new schemes and projects designed to improve air quality in the capital. £5.4 million has been allocated to boroughs this year, fulfilling part of a £20 million commitment over the next 10 years to improving the air we breathe in the capital.

Note to Editors

Please find below the London projects awarded funding from Defra’s Annual Air Quality Grant Programme:

City of London	Community project to monitor air quality and raise awareness of air pollution in the Barbican Estate.	£29,000
City of London (in partnership with Waltham Forest, Newham, Tower Hamlets)	Working with Barts NHS Trust to reduce emissions from the Barts estate and raise awareness about air pollution with vulnerable Londoners e.g. respiratory clinics	£56,000
LB Camden	Working with businesses in historic Camden town to promote greener deliveries, cycling and raise awareness of air quality issues	£31,000
LB Ealing	Improved air quality monitoring and analysis at one of London’s most polluted industrial sites (Horn Lane) to help plan and deliver better solutions.	£29,000
LB Islington	Tackling anti-social burning by canal boats on the Regents Canal.	£24,000
LB Islington	Behaviour change programme to raise awareness of air pollution in the borough.	£38,000
LB Merton	Engaging with businesses and supporting low emission infrastructure on industrial estate	£10,000
LB Tower Hamlets (and Islington)	Campaign to stop vehicles idling by Tower Bridge (leaving engines running) causing increased emissions	£20,000
LB Tower Hamlets (and Islington)		£20,000
Royal Borough of Greenwich	Supporting innovative new biomethane technology for use in low emission vans in Greenwich.	£15,000
Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea	Creation of a green ‘wall’ of vegetation to shield nearby school children from air pollution alongside A4 .	£43,000
Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea	Raise awareness of air quality across the borough.	£20,000
Westminster City Council	Pathfinder project to identify best ways to engage with public health professionals about health impacts of air pollution.	£20,000

The Mayor has recently launched the capital’s official ‘Cleaner Air’ website.- The site includes personalised tools to help Londoners, young people and businesses to play their part in reducing emissions and their exposure to air pollution. It features a raft of data from monitoring stations across the capital, as well as important, yet easy steps people can take such as walking or cycling to work, or making more informed choices about the routes they use to improve air quality and reduce exposure to harmful pollutants. www.cleanerairforlondon.org.uk.

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PUBLIC/NON-MEDIA ENQUIRIES: Call the Public Liaison Unit at the Greater London Authority on 020 7983 4100

DUTY PRESS OFFICER: For out-of-hours media enquiries, please call 020 7983 4000

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