Improving air quality

We are committed to achieving and maintaining compliance with national air quality objectives, but it is also our ambition to continue to reduce emissions under the Air Quality Action Plan as we recognise that any improvements have the opportunity to improve public health.

Where does air pollution come from?

Key outdoor air pollutants in the city are mainly emitted from traffic. Diesel cars are responsible for most of these emissions, but buses and lorries also contribute a large amount. Shipping and industrial sources also add to high levels of pollutants in the city.

Domestic wood burning in stoves and open fires is one of the largest sources of particulates in certain neighbourhoods, especially during the winter.

Idling, which contributes to toxic emissions in the air we breathe, is when your vehicle’s engine is running when you're stationary for a period of longer than 30 seconds. If you're parked, waiting for someone or stuck in traffic, switch off your engine. Idling wastes fuel and rereleases harmful pollution into the air which harm public health.

What are we doing to improve air quality?

Local authorities are required to monitor local air quality to identify where ‘national air quality objectives’ are not being met. Southampton meets all air quality objectives other than that for yearly average levels of nitrogen dioxide in certain areas. Most of our measures focus on reducing emissions of this pollutant by tackling its main source: road transport. As a result of these measures, levels of this pollutant have been improving steadily.

We have tackled engine idling by:

Working with schools to produce no-idling banners, leaflets and information to parents
No-idling signs have been put up around the city and in particular areas known to be hotspots for idling

1. Air Quality Action Plan SHOW

2. Clean Air Strategy 2019-25 SHOW

3. The Local NO2 Plan SHOW

We were one of the first five local authorities in the UK required by central Government to see if a charging Clean Air Zone (CAZ) was needed to meet air quality standards in the shortest possible time. A charging zone would involve owners of certain vehicles needing to pay if they used them in the city.

To see if a charging CAZ was necessary, we undertook a study to see how future levels of pollutants might change under different types of CAZs as well as a ‘do minimum’ scenario. The study concluded that compliance with standards could be achieved without a charging scheme.

We submitted our full business case to central government which set out that a charging CAZ would not be necessary, instead, a series of non-charging measures, known as ‘The Local NO2 Plan’ would be implemented to help ensure that standards are met in the shortest possible time, without the impacts of a charging scheme.

Central government approved our business case to implement The Local NO2 Plan instead of a charging CAZ in February 2019 and we have been carrying out the measures included in it since. These include:

Upgrading 145 Southampton licensed buses with emission reduction technology so that they meet the cleanest diesel emission standard
Requiring city buses maintain the cleanest standard of diesel
Requiring newly licensed and relicensed taxis to meet at least the cleanest standard of diesel from 2021
Running The Low Emission Taxi Incentive scheme which offered up to £3,000 off-licensing costs for drivers who switched from an older, more polluting vehicle to a low emission alternative. Now over 52% of the taxi and private hire fleet are hybrids or electrics
Installing two taxi-only rapid chargers to support electric taxis
Enhancing the Sustainable Distribution Centre which helps reduce the number of lorries moving around the city by ‘consolidating’ partly empty lorries into fewer, fuller vehicles
Working with businesses to establish ‘Delivery and Service Plans’. These reduce emissions associated with a business by using last mile delivery techniques and cleaner technology including electric vans and cargo bikes
Implementing a targeted active and sustainable travel behaviour change scheme on the Eastern Approach

Updates to The Plan

While the plan has now been implemented in line with central government’s expectations, two amendments have been made as a result of consultation, impacts from the COVID19 pandemic and discussions with central government.

Two measures have been amended. One change is regarding ‘bus lane authorisation for Southampton taxis’ and one regarding ‘bus standard conditions’. These were submitted to central government, setting out why the previous measure was inappropriate to implement and why the alternative is preferred. The alternative presented in the requests were approved through a ‘ministerial decision’ letter. These now form a part of The Local NO₂ Plan.