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Air Pollution: Monitoring

Asked by Tim FarronLiberal DemocratDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled Answered 9 February 2026UIN 110355

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of data capture and analysis for air quality within England.

Answered by Emma Hardy

Assessment of data capture is a routine activity to ensure air quality monitoring meets legislative requirements (data capture of at least 85% of the measurement period (i.e. at least 85% of days in a year) is required for compliance reporting. Networks operated for this purpose have suitable regimes of maintenance and servicing to minimise instrument down time and maximise data capture.

Analysis of air quality in England is presented within our accredited official statistics ( https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/air-quality-statistics) and our annual compliance report (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/air-pollution-in-the-uk-2024). Both provide more detail on the data capture requirements and data capture statistics achieved in the relevant year.

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