Issue details

Sheffield and Rotherham have been identified by the Government in its National Air Quality Plan as areas of exceedance for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) gas concentrations.

In order to comply with the European health based limits, the Joint Air Quality Unit (‘JAQU’) which is a setup of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (‘DEFRA’) and the Department for Transport (‘DfT’) has directed Local Authorities to lower the limits.

The Clean Air Zone (‘CAZ’) Feasibility Study covers Sheffield and Rotherham and the Council is leading the Study on behalf of both Local Authorities.

The JAQU has already paid Sheffield City Council (‘SCC’) a total grant of £550,000 (£450,000 in addition to the initial grant award of £100,000) in order to support the Feasibility Study Proposal to explore a range of measures to improve air quality within the city.

This report is to accept a further grant of £650,000 from the JAQU in order to complete our Feasibility Study Proposal.

The JAQU has been working closely with SCC and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (‘RMBC’) to submit the Feasibility Study by specified deadlines, as detailed in this report.

This Report is for SCC to accept and spend the additional £650,000 grant, noting that further grant funding may be made available by the JAQU in 2019 / 2020.