PLANS to tackle illegal levels of air pollution in Scotland and the rest of the UK have been put off until after the general election, the Government has said.
The Government was ordered to publish updated clean air proposals by April 24, after courts ruled existing plans to meet EU-mandated air quality limits, which are being broken across many areas of the country, were not sufficient.
It comes just two months after it emerged Britain faced multi-million pound fines if it does not heed a final warning by the European Commission over its failure to address harmful levels of toxic air in the UK, with Scotland amongst the worst offenders in the country.
The new plans that meet the legal requirement to cut illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide pollution in the “shortest possible time” was expected to involve clean air zones in many cities and towns across the country.
But the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has now applied to delay publication of the report until after the election in June.
A spokesman said: “We are firmly committed to improving the UK’s air quality and cutting harmful emissions."
But James Thornton, CEO of environmental lawyers ClientEarth slammed the Government for its “very last minute” application.
He said: “We are urgently considering the Government’s application to delay the publication of the draft Air Quality Plan which was received on Friday evening, less than one working day before the plans are due."
Glasgow has been described as "the most polluted city in Scotland" by environmental lawyers ClientEarth over what it called "illegal and harmful levels" of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which comes mostly from diesel vehicles.
Data produced by the EU shows that Glasgow has the highest average annual concentration of NO2 outside of London, with 68 micrograms of NO2 per cubic metre of air - 70 per cent higher than the Euro limit.
In November, in an action pursued by ClientEarth, the high court ruled that ministers' plans to tackle illegal levels of air pollution were unlawfully poor and have been given until April 24 to produce draft plans to deal with it.
Some 2000 early deaths are caused every year in Scotland because of polluted air according to the latest medical research, with some 40,000 across the UK.
Dirty air causes at least £27.5bn in costs very year in the UK, according to the government’s own estimates, and was called a “public health emergency” by MPs in April.
A raft of recent studies and reports have linked air pollution to heart disease and lung problems, including asthma.
The Scottish Government’s draft climate change plan calls for at least 40 per cent of cars and vans to be ultra-low emission by 2032.
Aiming to reduce transport emissions by around a third over the same period, the plan also sets out proposals to trial a low emission zone.
Britain is one of five countries served with the warning over persistent breaches of NO2 levels having been in breach since 2010.
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