Cleaner air for Scotland: progress report 2018-2019

2. Summary of progress

28 CAFS actions have been completed including the establishment of a PM_2.5 monitoring network, streaming of the Local Air Quality Management System and delivery of air quality training and guidance for local authority planners amongst others. Delivery of some actions were held back, as they were dependant on the provisions of the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 and Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 and the strategic direction set by the associated strategies (National Planning Framework 4 and National Transport Strategy). As a result 3 actions will be reviewed and refreshed as part of the CAFS 2020 redraft to ensure they remain relevant and deliverable.

7 actions have been significantly progressed and are on schedule to be delivered under a revised timescale. Of these 7 actions, 3 are on schedule for delivery in 2020. The remaining 4 actions will be taken forward in the new strategy.

4 actions contain two distinct elements at different stages of completion, the action status has been split to reflect this. Included in this category is the delivery of the National Modelling Framework where the local models which provide evidence for the 4 city Low Emission Zones have been delivered, however the regional model remains under development. The regional model will be progressed further during 2020 and taken forward as an action in the new strategy.

In addition to the 40 actions outlined in the original strategy, 9 new actions have been progressed. These include an evaluability assessment for Low Emissions Zones, contribution to the UK National Air pollution Control Programme and development of an air quality focused version of the Place Standard tool. Of these new actions 6 have been completed and 3 have progressed significantly.

Through reflecting on progress made in delivering these 40 actions, it is clear much has been achieved in pursuit of improving air quality for the benefit of human health and the environment. We can now look ahead to the opportunities for further improvements by introducing new actions to tackle emissions from agriculture and domestic combustion and refreshing transport, placemaking and climate change actions in line with recent changes to legislation to ensure multiple benefits.

Full details of progress against all CAFS actions in are presented in Appendix A.